

















sj" 







































































































Enduring Investments 



'?&&& 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OP CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



Enduring Investments 



BY 

ROGER W. BABSON 

Author of "Religion and Business," etc. 



J3eto gotfe 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1921 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



X 

.^ 



Copyright, 1921, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 192 1. 



NOV 17 '2| 

g)",!,A637767 



Press of 

J. J. Little & Ives Company 

New York, U. S. A. 



'ho J 



TO 
ERNEST T. GUNDLACH 



PREFACE 

This little book is made up largely from notes 
which the writer jotted down from time to time 
after experiences of one sort or another. Some 
of the paragraphs are purely memoranda which 
he wrote at different periods for his own guidance, 
— in the form of a diary. Therefore, the reader 
can pardon the preaching appearance of the book 
by remembering that the author is preaching to 
himself. 

He also desires to acknowledge indebtedness to 
Clarence N. Stone, George E. Macllwain, Charles 
W. Wallour, Melvin L. Morse, and other of his 
associates for help in the preparation of the book. 
These men are all experts of the Babson Statistical 
Organization, and in a way the book is a composite 

opinion of us all. 

R. W. B. 
Wellesley Hills, Mass. 
May, 1921. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 
PART I 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Habit and the Accumulation of 

Money i 

II When Money Ceases to be of Value 16 

III Riches Are Not Wrong 26 

IV Riches Are Dangerous 36 

V Men versus Goods 45 

VI Getting Something for Nothing . . 56 

VII Retiring from Business 67 

PART II 

VIII Methods of Piling up Profits ... 85 

IX Society's Right to Our Wealth . . 100 

X Profit Sharing versus Benevolences 109 

XI What Shall We Do? 119 

XII Developing a Prosperity Which En- 
dures 130 

XIII Need of Educational Reform . . . 150 

XIV A Personal Confession 178 



PART I 

This is an economic discussion of the 
sources, uses, abuses, and dangers of wealth. 

Different forms of stock and bond invest- 
ments are considered with their relative de- 
gree of endurance. 



ENDURING INVESTMENTS 
CHAPTER I 

HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 

Hard work, honesty, good judgment, initia- 
tive, and other qualities are, of course, essential in 
the accumulation of wealth. Money may be se- 
cured without these essential characteristics, but 
men who do not have them either lose or spend 
their money after securing it. They seldom die 
rich. Statistics on failures illustrate this point 
most conclusively. 

The getting of money is comparatively simple, 
but the accumulation of money is a very difficult 
thing. A great many business men make money 
in their own industry, but lose much in outside ven- 
tures and in what they consider investments. It 
is the accumulation of money, which includes the 
saving and the safe investing thereof, as well as 



2 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

the earning, which is to be considered in this 

little book. 

The following table shows the percentage of 

failures for four typical years, classified according 

to their principal causes. The table speaks for 

itself : 

Number of Failures 

Failures due to — 1915 1914 1913 1912 

Incompetence 29.9% 28.0% 28.6% 30.2% 

Inexperience 5.4% 5.6% 5.1% 4.6% 

Lack of Capital 27.5% 29.4% 29.2% 29.7% 

Unwise credits 2.4% 2.5% 2.6% 2.0% 

Failures of others 1.0% 1.8% 1.9% 1.3% 

Extravagance 6% .9% .8% .7% 

Neglect 1.9% 2.2% 2.0% 2.0% 

Competition 5-7% 3.0% 2.3% 1.9% 

Specific conditions 18.9% 16.4% 15.3% 16.5% 

Speculation 4% .7% 1.1% .8% 

Fraud 6.3% 9.5% 11.1% 10.3% 

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 

Liabilities Involved 

Failures due to — 191 5 1914 1913 1912 

Incompetence 17.3% 13.4% 18.496 26.8% 

Inexperience 2.4% 1.9% 2.0% 3.0% 

Lack of capital 28.4% 31.6% 24.9% 33-5% 

Unwise credits 3-9% 3.2% 16.0% 2.6% 

Failures of others 9.2% 16.7% 11.4% 4.9% 

Extravagance 6% .6% .6% .9% 

Neglect 1.0% 1.0% .7% 1.0% 

Competition 3-3% 1.2% .9% 1.3% 

Specific conditions 24.7% 19.8% 14.0% 13.8% 

Speculation 2.2% 3.5% 2.7% 3.4% 

Fraud 7.0% 7.1% 8.4% 8.8% 



Total 100% 100% 100% ioo<# 



HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 3 

IMPORTANCE OF THRIFT 

Notwithstanding hard work, honesty, good 
judgment, and initiative, the habit of thrift is the 
basis of invested capital. Few people realize the 
great importance of thrift. Not only is it essen- 
tial in the accumulation of money, but it largely 
determines whether a man is to be an employer or 
a wage worker. Let me illustrate what is meant 
by this statement: 

A man who is naturally thrifty gradually ac- 
cumulates money and is able to "take a chance" 
and go into business for himself when the oppor- 
tunity opens. It may be to have a small store or 
to operate a great industry, but in either case he 
is his own boss, and an employer of men. If the 
statement is true that 5% of the people of this 
country are employers and 95% are working for 
others, this probably likewise means that only 5% 
have the habit of thrift. The man who instinc- 
tively saves, by spending less than he earns, how- 
ever small his earnings may be, has the habit of 
thrift. Opportunities to go into business for one- 
self come to everyone sometime. Whether or 
not they can be accepted, depends on whether one 



4 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

has a little money laid aside which he can put into 
the enterprise and whether he has enough to stake 
the family while the enterprise is getting on its 
feet. 

The man who is constantly spending all he 
earns must always work for others. As the man 
who is instinctively thrifty automatically becomes 
an employer of others, so he who is instinctively 
not thrifty automatically remains a wage worker. 
When the opportunity comes for him to enter 
business for himself, he has no capital to invest, 
he has no savings laid aside to support his fam- 
ily during the unproductive period of the enter- 
prise, and so he must let the opportunity slip by. 
Yes, the habit of thrift is the first step toward 
enjoying enduring investments. Furthermore, 
the habit of thrift is a "good" habit. 

BASIS OF MOST FORTUNES 

Systematic saving is the basis of most large 
fortunes. By laying aside a small amount of 
money each week or each month and investing it 
in amounts of $100, $500, $1,000, every man may 
build up a comfortable fortune. For example, 



HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 



$10 a week, put by regularly and invested every 
ten weeks, so as to return 6 per cent, interest, will 
amount to $20,000 in a little over twenty years. 

The following table vividly shows how small 
sums mount up into large ones in this way : 



No. of 














years 








$5 a week 


$10 a week 


$25 a week 




[3% 


Interest 




816.92 


1,633.84 


4,077.62 


3 « 


4% 


,, 




827.26 


1,656.51 


4,138.62 




6% 


>> 


BONDS 


842.81 


1,691.96 


4,230.57 




'3% 


Interest 




1,403.51 


2,825.83 


7,005.58 


5 ■ 


4% 


,, 




1,432.50 


2,87539 


7,183.86 




6% 


" 


BONDS 


i,493-69 


2,998.74 


7,498.36 




'3% 


Interest 




2,351.58 


4,723.94 


",737-71 


8 - 


4% 


» 




2,435.i7 


4,894.66 


12,228.81 




6% 


»» 


BONDS 


2,626.91 


5,271.05 


13,182.44 




'3% 


Interest 




3,032.34 


6,086.55 


15,13571 


10 


*Z° 


>» 




3,190.22 


6,380.47 


15,940.95 




6% 


»> 


BONDS 


3,505-30 


7,025.91 


17,572.96 




'3% 


Interest 




4,922.66 


9,870.67 


24,571.15 


15 ' 


4% 


" 




5,378.75 


10,757.50 


26,615.80 




6% 


" 


BONDS 


6,208.20 


12,440.13 


31,112.45 




'3% 


Interest 




7,116.46 


14,262.37 


35,521.38 


20 


*z° 


tt 




8,009.30 


16,018.60 


39,628.37 




6% 


" 


BONDS 


9,839.12 


19,717.06 


49,309-87 



ARE GOOD HABITS ALWAYS GOOD? 

Psychologists tell us, however, that it is very 
difficult to make an absolute dividing line between 
good habits and bad habits. What is food for 
one is poison for another and vice versa. Fur- 
thermore, what is a good habit at one time of life 
may be a bad habit at another time of life. 



6 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

This especially applies to the habit of thrift. 
The habit of thrift is necessary for the upbuild- 
ing of an individual, industry, or nation, but like 
other good habits, it can be overdone. When the 
habit controls the man instead of the man the 
habit, it is a dangerous condition. The success- 
ful person is he or she who has a true perspective 
of life and who gives the proper amount of time, 
thought, and energy to the various factors in life 
proportional to their importance. He who over- 
develops any one of the features making up life 
does wrong and suffers thereby. Does not this 
especially apply to those who have over-developed 
the habit of thrift? 

Every young person should be thrifty. No 
young person should depend on inherited wealth. 
Every one should earn his own living and accumu- 
late his own wealth and not in any way depend on 
parents or friends. On the other hand, one should 
not be controlled by the desire for money. Un- 
fortunately this is not the case with many. The 
average man who has accumulated money through 
thrift is so controlled by the habit of thrift, that 
when he reaches the point where additional money 



HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 7 

is simply a care, he is helpless. He cannot throw 
off that habit of thrift and accumulation. It has 
bound him and riveted him to the earth. He is 
like a prisoner, held in the clutches of this habit 
of thrift and accumulation. What was a good 
habit for him as a boy and a young man, often 
becomes a curse. Although he dies wealthy ac- 
cording to Dun and Bradstreet, yet he dies poor 
in the sight of God and his friends. 

DETERMINATION NOT TO BE BEATEN 

Thrift is not the only good habit to which 
many men owe their wealth. Another habit is the 
determination on the part of some not to be beaten 
and not to have advantage taken of them. This 
likewise is a good habit, so long as the man con- 
trols the habit. When, however, the habit gets 
the better of the man, then it becomes a source 
of danger rather than of protection. 

I have traveled considerably with very wealthy 
men. I have traveled with them to examine great 
enterprises, mills, factories, mines, forests, water 
powers, and railroads. It has been interesting to 
note how these men will carelessly give away 



8 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

thousands, yes, millions of dollars and yet will 
make themselves sick arguing about an over- 
charge on a hotel or carriage bill. 

I once was traveling in Europe with the late 
J. P. Morgan, — a very generous and wonderful 
man. I remember his arguing for one-half an 
hour with a guide over a charge of a few dollars. 
It practically ruined Mr. Morgan's day and sent 
him to bed with a bad headache. Mr. Morgan 
insisted that a vital principle was involved and 
that it was up to him to fight it out. This is very 
true. An important principle was involved, but 
many other important principles were involved in 
very much larger transactions that Mr. Morgan 
did not feel called upon to fight. The truth was 
that he had formed from early youth the habit of 
insisting upon his rights and he could not break 
himself of the habit in his later years. The habit 
controlled him. 

Every self-respecting man would rather give 
away a thousand dollars than be "done" out of 
one dollar. It is a good habit to "count the 
change," so to speak, and make sure that no car- 
penter, plumber, painter, or taxi driver takes ad- 






HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 9 

vantage of us. But when we get obsessed by this 
habit and are made irritable or almost sick by hav- 
ing some one take advantage of us, then the habit 
ceases to be a good habit. 

Some men are very easy with their children, 
while others are very severe. Some men are very 
easy with those who wrong them, while others are 
very severe. Both are actuated by habits rather 
than by principles. Personally, I am inclined to 
be severe and expect in others the same discipline 
to which I was subjected by my parents and em- 
ployers. I sometimes wonder, however, if when 
coming to die, I shall be prouder of the times 
that I have forced others to settle against their 
will, or prouder of the times when they have got 
the better of me. This is not answering the ques- 
tion, but simply asking it. Every reader may 
answer it for himself. 

The point is, we should realize that everything 
ought to be used with moderation. Everything 
has its uses and abuses. Every rule has its excep- 
tions. Habits must be within our control and 
they must not control us. Yes, the determination 
not to be taken advantage of is quite essential in 



IO ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

the accumulation of wealth, but it is not essen- 
tial in the accumulation of happiness. Quite the 
reverse is probably true. This is a psychological 
fact which should be most carefully considered 
in connection with the study of enduring invest- 
ments. 

DESIRE FOR POWER AND INFLUENCE 

Nobody accumulates money for money itself. 
Money is of value only as it will give men what 
they desire. First, man desires a home and 
enough money to raise a family, to properly feed, 
clothe, house, and educate this family. Secondly, 
man desires to accumulate money so that when 
the opportunity comes to go into business for him- 
self, he can grasp the opportunity. Most wealthy 
men, however, pass these two stages in the early 
part of their career. During the latter part of 
their career these men are actuated by the desire 
for power, influence, and those other intangible 
qualities that money gives. 

When I was a boy, the church put a decided ban 
upon three things; namely, drinking, card play- 
ing, and dancing. I thought it was very foolish 



HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 1 1 

at the time, but have since found that there was 
an economic reason for this ; namely, because it is 
impossible for a man to be satisfied through drink, 
gambling, or yielding to the sex impulse. The 
more he has of these three things, the more he 
wants; the more he has, the less he is satisfied, 
until finally the ruling impulse of his entire life 
is whiskey, gambling, or women. The church said, 
"Let these things alone; beware of temptation; 
and do not let in the thinnest edge of the wedge." 
The church was right as far as it went, but it 
should have added one more thing; namely, the 
love of money. Money fails to satisfy, and the 
more one has the more one wants. 

It is honorable for all of us to desire power, 
influence, and those other intangible assets which 
money gives, but they must not control us. After 
we get a certain amount, should not we begin fight- 
ing the habit instead of feeding it? God did not 
put us in the world to rule others. We can be just 
as selfish in our desire for power, influence, and 
fame as in more common and brutal ways. The 
desire for these things is legitimate up to a certain 
point, but beyond that point it is wrong. These 



12 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

factors of power, influence, and fame which we 
so much crave, are often killing us instead of help- 
ing us and making us worth-while men and 
women. Certainly these factors are not the basis 
of enduring investments. 

MONEY TO DO GOOD WITH 

The fact that so many successful men are the 
sons of ministers is very interesting to the statis- 
tician. This is especially significant when one con- 
siders that there are fewer ministers than any 
other class of workers. There are many reasons 
why ministers' sons turn out so well. Probably 
the primary reason is that such boys inherit cer- 
tain visionary qualities from the father and 
certain qualities of thrift and industry from the 
mother. Furthermore, such boys are brought up 
in a religious atmosphere which develops these 
and other fundamentals of success. 

There, however, is a secondary reason for the 
success of ministers' sons which is quite important. 
Although they have been brought up in straight- 
ened circumstances, yet tastes have been created 
within them for the finer things of life. They 



HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 1 3 

have associated with the best children of the com- 
munity. Many of the boys with whom the min- 
ister's son plays go away to school or college, 
most of them having more than he has. He also 
usually goes to college. He visits his classmates 
at vacation time and sees them living in luxury, 
with servants to help in satisfying every want. 
At the end of his visit, the boy goes back to the 
little parsonage in which he was brought up and 
sees his mother struggling, making her own 
clothes, patching his and his father's trousers, 
working in every possible way to make both ends 
meet. Then and there he determines to go out 
into the business world and "make money" so 
that "mother" and his wife and his children will 
not have to struggle in a similar way. This is a 
worthy ambition and a great factor in the accumu- 
lation of money. 

Many men start out to accumulate wealth with 
the idea of helping their families, endowing hos- 
pitals, sending young people through college, and 
doing other worthy deeds. These likewise are 
good aspirations so long as the aspiration is con- 
trolled by the individual. When, however, the 



14 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

tables are turned and the man is so absorbed in 
the accumulating of wealth that he has no time 
to give to its distribution, then even this worthy 
object becomes annulled. No amount of money 
can take the place of a human soul, and this is 
what Jesus meant when He asked, "What shall 
it profit a man if he gain the whole world and 
lose his own soul?" 

Jesus never criticized the accumulation of 
money for enduring investments. What Jesus 
criticized was the accumulation of money for one- 
self, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on 
earth," said Jesus. He did not speak against 
laying up treasures. Jesus knew that the accumu- 
lation of money was essential for the providing 
of capital to build railroads, erect buildings, clear 
forests, and open up mines. He knew that as 
some men are naturally gifted in music, medicine, 
art, or literature, so other men are naturally gifted 
to accumulate money and become great bankers, 
manufacturers, and merchants. 

Jesus never said that it is wrong to be a banker, 
manufacturer, or merchant provided one is in a 
business for the good of the community and not 



HABIT AND THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY 1 5 

for oneself alone. "Lay not up for yourselves 
treasures," Jesus continually said. "Be thrifty 
and accumulate, but do it in the best interests of 
your family, your friends, your neighbors, your 
community, your countrymen, and the entire 
world, that all may be healthier, happier, and 
more prosperous," is what He would recommend. 
By so doing one would make enduring investments 
which moths and rust would not corrupt and which 
thieves would not steal. 



CHAPTER II 

WHEN MONEY CEASES TO BE OF VALUE 

Although not the founder of the Christian 
religion, a man to whom it owes much was that 
great traveler, lecturer, and writer named Paul 
of Tarsus. While other inspired teachers spread 
the gospel message in those early days, it was 
that hard-headed philosopher, Paul of Tarsus, 
who interpreted it in a practical way. 

Paul continually insisted that theology, so far 
as it meant correct thinking, was all right; but 
it must not take the place of helping the widows 
and fatherless and keeping oneself unspotted from 
the world. Paul had a large number of parishes 
and different groups of people in different sec- 
tions. Some were poor, some were rich, some 
were learned, some were ignorant. To no two 
groups did he interpret the gospel in the same 
way. He told the poor that the gospel meant 

that they should wake up and get busy; while to 

16 



WHEN MONEY CEASES TO BE OF VALUE 1 7 

the rich he said that the gospel meant to give up 
and help some one else get busy. 

One of the most trying parishes which Paul 
had was his group at Corinth. Corinth was one 
of the chief commercial cities of that time. He 
had many wealthy, learned, and very devoted ad- 
herents at Corinth. These people were called the 
Corinthians, and Paul wrote a series of letters to 
them. These letters may be found in the Bible 
and are called First and Second Epistles to the 
Corinthians. These letters are worthy of the 
reading of any man, especially those who have 
accumulated wealth. One section of them, how- 
ever, I am especially desirous of including in this 
little book. It is found in the thirteenth chapter 
of First Corinthians. 

Some travelers from Corinth had been to call 
on Paul when he was staying in another city. 
They had told him of the devoutness of these 
Corinthians, how they were willing to give their 
bodies to be burned; how they were anxious to 
give all their goods to feed the poor; how they 
excelled in learning and yet how they seemed to 
lack the right spirit. They apparently had every- 



1 8 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

thing that makes up life, yet they lacked life it- 
self. After the travelers had gone, Paul sat down 
and wrote these Corinthian merchants, teachers, 
and church leaders a letter and this is what he 
said: 

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and 
of angels, and have not love, I am become as 
sounding brass or tinkling cymbals. 

"Though I have the gift of prophecy, and un- 
derstand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and 
though I have all faith, so that I could remove 
mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. 

"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the 
poor, and though I give my body to be burned, 
and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 

"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love 
envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed 
up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no 
evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, 
hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

"Love never faileth; but whether there be 
prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be 



WHEN MONEY CEASES TO BE OF VALUE 1 9 

tongues, they shall cease ; whether there be knowl- 
edge, it shall vanish away. 

"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
But when that which is perfect is come, then that 
which is in part shall be done away. 

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- 
stood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I 
became a man, I put away childish things. 

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but 
then face to face; now I know in part; but then 
shall I know even as also I am known. And now 
abideth faith, hope and love, these three; but the 
greatest of these is love." 

THE END VERSUS THE MEANS 

Why is pure human love greater than all 
things, — courage, gifts, wisdom, sacrifice, fame, 
power, and property? The reason is that these 
things are only means to an end and that the end 
is love. At some time in our lives all of us have 
known that love was the end and have started out 
to seek it, but we have become lost in the wilder- 
ness. We soon found that in securing love, these 
material things were more or less necessary, — if 
not necessary, certainly helpful. Then we began 



20 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

to seek the material things in order to have the 
where-with-all by which we could express our love. 
But the race for these material things became so 
keen that it absorbed all our attention and we 
ultimately forgot about the love that we were 
seeking. 

A friend of mine was once very much interested 
in social movements. He preached, taught, and 
wrote of social problems. He led a simple life 
and was much interested in having every one lead 
the same life, with equal opportunities for all. 
He scored the idle rich, he criticized the waste of 
money on houses, servants, and equipage. He 
was truly a John the Baptist, preaching in the 
twentieth century; but although he talked against 
luxury, he had never tasted it. 

He was a popular speaker and was invited 
about into the homes of the rich. He filled en- 
gagements in the large cities of our country. Alas ! 
the "flesh pots of Egypt" were too much for him. 
Every time he returned to his simple cottage from 
these trips, the little place appealed less and less 
to him. He continually stayed away from home 
more and more, living in the gilded hotels of 



WHEN MONEY CEASES TO BE OF VALUE 21 

the big cities and being entertained at afternoon 
teas in the homes of the rich. Finally, he began 
to spend more and more time in one especial city, 
and more and more time in one magnificent home 
in that city. The home was presided over by a 
wealthy widow who had a most attractive young 
daughter. 

This is no place to give further details of the 
story, but from then on not only did his simple 
home no longer attract him, but his good wife 
and family lost their charms. A divorce was se- 
cured and one day in Europe he was married to 
this young daughter. The strangest part of it 
all is that he still talks and writes on socialism! 
In seeking the end he became infatuated with the 
means, and as a result lost all. 

Every man of the world has seen similar cases. 
No one when starting out in business ever ex- 
pected to let money get the better of him. He 
looked upon it only as a means of making his 
family healthy, happy, and independent. He then 
realized that the end is life and more abundant 
life, and not things and a great abundance of 
things. But there is something fascinating in 



22 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

business which tends to make men forget that the 
end is really love, friends, and other intangible 
assets. The busy man loses sight of the end 
through being so absorbed by the means. The 
true assets, — love, friends, beauty, music, service, 
peace, and health, — are lost in the race for money, 
even though the money is sought simply in order 
to acquire those true assets. 

OUR FAMILY NEEDS 

Most of us love our children more than any- 
thing else in the world. After the final analysis, 
it is our children that we have most at heart and 
for whom we, would give up everything else. 
These children serve to us as an incentive to work 
and labor, think and struggle in the early years 
of our business life. We are justified in wanting 
a certain amount of money to give them the 
proper education and the proper start, but after 
accumulating enough money to do this, do we then 
stop accumulating? No. We become so absorbed 
in the accumulation of money that we no longer 
think of our children's need. Many of us, if we 
thought only of the welfare of our children, would 
not accumulate another dollar. The average sue- 



WHEN MONEY CEASES TO BE OF VALUE 23 

cessful business man has already accumulated 
more than enough for his children's good. Addi- 
tional wealth will simply handicap them and tend 
to harm them rather than to develop them. 

Every successful business man knows that his 
success is very largely due to the fact that he was 
obliged to struggle in his early days. This struggle 
is what developed him and made him the power 
which he now is. Yet he is doing all he can to 
make it unnecessary for his own children to 
struggle. Furthermore, he is surrounding them 
with temptations which may be their downfall. 
Many of us, if we had at heart only the welfare 
of our children, would not necessarily retire from 
business and stop making money, but we certainly 
would stop accumulating more money for our 
families. From now on our profits would either 
go to others or to the endowment of educational 
institutions, hospitals, and other community enter- 
prises. In so doing we would not only be making 
enduring investments; but would be removing 
from our children something which would surely 
be a source of great temptation and which possibly 
might lead to their downfall. 



24 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 



EFFECT ON ONESELF 



What is true regarding the good of our families 
is also true regarding the good of ourselves. A 
certain amount of money helps a man Ito be 
thought more of in his community and aids him 
in securing more friends. A large amount of 
wealth, however, is a handicap rather than an 
aid. When a man becomes conspicuously rich in 
his community he becomes a target of criticism, 
people become suspicious of him and he is not 
loved as he was in the old days. In most instances 
this is very unjust on the part of the community. 
It should not be so, but we cannot make people 
over all at once. The world is not so much in- 
fluenced by logic, wisdom, and statistics as by 
jealousy, fear, and hate. It is an old saying, "The 
higher up in the tree the bird builds her nest, the 
easier it is for the crows to find it." 

I was much interested once in attending some 
taxation hearings in a certain state capital. I 
went to the hearings with a purpose of speaking 
in favor of taxing earned income at a lower rate 
than unearned income. I believe that the self- 
made man should be taxed lightly, while his chil- 



WHEN MONEY CEASES TO BE OF VALUE 2 5 

dren should be taxed heavily on what they in- 
herited at his death. To my great surprise, the 
predominance of the sentiment was greatly against 
me. It was the self-made man, the man now alive 
who had accumulated wealth that most of the 
people were gunning for. The inoffensive resi- 
dents of the state who were quietly living on the 
income of their ancestors, even though producing 
nothing themselves, were passed by. The few 
great captains of industry who had really de- 
veloped the state were the ones that the commu- 
nity were anxious to tax. It was a case of plain 
jealousy. Yes, the average rich man would have 
more friends to-day if he had stopped accumulat- 
ing years ago. 

After all, is there any wealth greater than 
friends? Is not the richest man in the world to- 
day truly the man who is most loved? Is not the 
poorest man in the world he who is most hated? 
Faith, Courage, and Love are all essential, but 
the greatest of these is Love. Yes, Love is the 
most enduring investment even from a cold- 
blooded statistical point of view. 



CHAPTER III 

RICHES ARE NOT WRONG 

No; riches are not wrong. There is no greater 
mistake in the world than to denounce capital as 
something evil in itself. Whiskey is inherently a 
curse. Smallpox is an unalloyed scourge. These 
things are intrinsically bad. But capital is merely 
a neutral instrument that can be used for good or 
for ill. Capital is like an automobile. It can be 
employed to facilitate robberies and murders or 
it can take crippled children for an airing. 

Failure to recognize this fact is the trouble with 
Russia. The Bolshevists made criminal fools of 
themselves. They started to abolish riches as 
something reptilian. What happened? They 
smashed the factories that produced the necessi- 
ties of life. They wrecked the railroads that 
transported these necessities. In wiping out capi- 
tal and capitalists, the Bolshevists wiped out their 
whole world. They sawed off the branch that 

supported them. 

26 



RICHES ARE NOT WRONG 27 

CAPITAL MAKES AND MAINTAINS CIVILIZATION 

One difference between an animal and a man is 
that a man uses tools. One difference between 
savagery, barbarism, and civilization is that civili- 
zation uses the tool we call capital. It is this 
tool that has made our mills, water power develop- 
ments, farm machinery, automobiles, telephone 
systems, railroads, buildings, and other essentials. 
Capital is the world's greatest invention, because 
it has made possible the application of all other 
inventions. 

Economists have learned from statistics that 
there is a tendency for population to increase 
faster than the means of sustenance. Were it not 
for the power of capital, there would be no hope 
of supporting the 105,000,000 people now in the 
United States — and still less hope of supporting 
the added millions of the future. 

WITHOUT CAPITAL THE UNITED STATES WOULD 
STARVE 

With the vast multitude now in this country, 
what could we do with the little old spinning wheel, 
grist mill, and cobbler's bench ! Without the mar- 



28 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

velous mechanism that has been constructed by 
capital, it would be physically impossible to pro- 
vide the bare food, shelter, and clothing for these 
growing myriads. They would starve. It is just 
as easy to starve in the United States as in Russia 
or China. The reason our people are going to 
the motion pictures and riding in automobiles in- 
stead of succumbing to famine and pestilence, is 
because the United States has had the good sense 
to use capital instead of destroying it as in Russia, 
or ignoring it as in China. 

Take a single illustration. The arid regions of 
the West have been transformed into fruitful 
farms by irrigation. Whether financed by the gov- 
ernment or private organizations, irrigation and 
the other great works of civilization would be im- 
possible without accumulated and mobilized 
wealth. Of course, capital includes more than 
mere money, materials, and labor of construction. 
Behind these gigantic projects are the perfected 
machinery, the studied methods, and the trained 
managers, evolved through generations. 

Sometimes we forget how completely the 
achievements of capital have revolutionized the 



RICHES ARE NOT WRONG 29 

world. I do not know of any description that 
brings this home to us more vividly than Kipling's 
fine poem on Modern Machinery. Indeed this 
might almost have been entitled "What We Owe 
to Capital." To the red orator and his soap-box 
denunciations of riches, the following wonderful 
verses give the practical answer: 

We were taken from the ore-bed and the mine, 

We were melted in the furnace and the pit, 
We were cast and wrought and hammered to design, 

We were cut and filed and tooled and gauged to fit. 
Some water, coal, and oil is all we ask, 

And a thousandth of an inch to give us play: 
And now if you will set us to our task, 

We will serve you four and twenty hours a day! 



We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive, 
We can print and plough and weave and heat and light, 
We can run and jump and swim and fly and dive, 
We can see and hear and count and read and write! 



Would you call a friend from half across the world ? 

If you'll let us have his name and town and state, 
You shall see and hear your crackling question hurled 

Across the arch of heaven while you wait. 
Has he answered? Does he need you at his side? 

You can start this very evening if you choose, 
And take the Western Ocean in the stride 

Of seventy thousand horses and some screws! 



30 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

The boat-express is waiting your command ! 
You will find the Mauretania at the quay, 
Till her captain turns the lever 'neath his hand, 
And the monstrous nine-decked city goes to sea. 

Do you wish to make the mountains bare their hea.* 3 

And lay their new-cut forests at your feet? 
Do you want to turn a river in its bed, 

Or plant a barren wilderness with wheat ? 
Shall we pipe aloft and bring you water down 

From the never-failing cisterns of the snows, 
To work the mills and tramways in your town 

And irrigate your orchards as it flows? 

It is easy! Give us dynamite and drills! 

Watch the iron-shouldered rocks lie down and quake 

As the thirsty desert-level floods and fills, 

And the valley we have dammed becomes a lake. 

But remember, please, the Law by which we live, 

We are not built to comprehend a lie, 
We can neither love nor pity nor forgive, 

If you make a slip in handling us you die! 
We are greater than the Peoples or the Kings. 

Be humble, as you crawl beneath our rods! — 
Our touch can alter all created things, 

We are everything on earth, — except The Gods! 

CAPITALISTS ARE NOT SPENDTHRIFTS 

You have probably been present at various 
gatherings where amateur Bolshevists made 
speeches. You have heard rich men scolded or 
damned. The capitalist is portrayed as living on 
a scale of prodigal luxury, spending fortunes on 



RICHES ARE NOT WRONG 3 1 

jewelry, fine clothing, costly food, and every other 
personal gratification. But these orators know 
little about their subject. There is probably 
not one socialist in a hundred who ever experienced 
a real friendship with even one rich man. As a 
matter of record, rich men are surprisingly frugal. 
It is not the rich man himself who squanders the 
fortune, but more often the rich man's son and 
daughter. These children we shall eventually curb 
by inheritance taxes or other suitable measures; 
but I seriously question whether the "old man" 
requires curbing. At most, he can eat only a 
limited quantity of food. Few rich men are in- 
ordinately fond of clothes and jewelry. Personal 
adornment is more likely to appeal to the laborer 
than the capitalist. It is the employee who yearns 
for the silk shirt, while the boss's idea of real 
luxury is to get into a woolen shirt and the old 
slouch hat. 

the Bolshevist's mistake 

The reason why the Bolshevists depict the in- 
come-tax payer as squandering millions on per- 
sonal extravagance, is because they themselves 



32 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

would do so if given his opportunities. We cannot 
get away from the law of equal and opposite re- 
action. The reaction from carrying a hod is to 
run riot among the bright lights. The reaction 
from bossing a business is to go fishing or to weed 
the garden. As a strictly commercial proposition, 
I would rather undertake to board and clothe Mr. 
Rockefeller than any "comrade" in the whole of 
Russia ! 

It has been said that the test of intelligence is 
whether you can think in terms of percentages. 
The percentage of his total resources spent by the 
rich man on personal sustenance and indulgence, 
is remarkably low. With others than the rich, the 
percentage of total resources spent on personal 
sustenance and indulgence, is remarkably high. 

The whole subject can be clarified by separat- 
ing it into these two distinct questions: (i) Do 
the rich spend too much on living expenses? and 
(2) Is the concentration of business capital an 
evil or a benefit? In the vast majority of cases, 
the personal expenditures of the rich are not a 
cause for social concern except for the example 
involved. A few horrible cases have been adver- 



RICHES ARE NOT WRONG 33 

tised as typical. They are not typical, but excep- 
tional. The vast majority of rich men are too 
busy to squander money. Moreover, their deepest 
instinct is not to squander but to conserve. This 
is why they are rich men; were this not so, they 
would not be rich men but Bolsheviki. The fol- 
lowing quotation from Horace Mann describes 
the situation exactly: 

"However rich a man may be, a certain number 
of thicknesses of woolen or silk is all he can com- 
fortably wear. If he has a dozen palaces, he can 
live in but one at a time. He can have the animal 
pleasure of eating but one man's rations. Hence, 
the wealthiest, with all their riches, are driven 
back to a cultivated mind for the real enjoyment 
of their money." 

On the other hand, the waste of money by any 
one — whether rich or poor — is equally wrong and 
ostentatious expenditures cause many of our 
troubles. 

CAPITAL MUST BE CONCENTRATED NOT 

DISSIPATED 

In answer to the second question : The concen- 
tration of business capital is a benefit, — in fact, a 



34 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

necessity. The rich man does not have the bulk 
of his wealth in houses, automobiles, and food, — 
but rather in railroads, factories, and farms, that 
are occupied and operated by others. The danger 
of wealth is not a question of amount but mode 
of uses. It did not need the colossal failure of 
the experiment in Russia to convince economists 
and statisticians that capital should be concen- 
trated instead of dissipated. Capital is like steam; 
before it can do work, it must be concentrated. 
Nineteen people out of twenty waste wealth. The 
twentieth person invests wealth in useful enter- 
prises. This twentieth person automatically be- 
comes well off. In his hands, wealth functions for 
the good of the community. 

The Bolsheviki refuse to see this. They have 
too many speaking engagements to spend any time 
on statistics Statistics show that the dream of 
demobilizing wealth is ludicrous. Read King's 
"Wealth and Income of the People of the United 
States." He shows that if capitalists were 
stripped of all their resources of rent, interest, and 
profits, and if these were bestowed upon the wage 
workers, wages would be increased not over 20 



RICHES ARE NOT WRONG 35 

per cent at the most. In other words, by shatter- 
ing all investments and dividing the booty, wage 
workers might get a 20 per cent "raise" — momen- 
tarily. Then all jobs would be gone and all in- 
comes would cease, for the next step would be to 
dissipate the capital itself. If the United States 
is to remain a going concern, capital must be 
mobilized — not demobilized. Even financial in- 
vestments with only a temporary length of life are 
better than none at all. 



CHAPTER IV 

RICHES ARE DANGEROUS 

Although riches are not wrong, they are, 
nevertheless, dangerous. They are dangerous to 
the man himself, dangerous to his family, danger- 
ous to his community. 

Wealth is a danger to the man himself when it 
tends to monopolize his attention. This, however, 
is not peculiar to wealth, but applies to the pur- 
suit of other purposes. Art and music are likewise 
dangerous when they lead a man to forget com- 
monplace business obligations, decent self-support, 
and the rights of family. Theology, golf, statis- 
tics, politics, philanthropy, — any interest may be 
dangerous if allowed to become an obsession. 

Wealth may absorb a man's mind to the exclu- 
sion of health, happiness, and home, — and he may 
lose all three. He may lose his home through 

neglect. It takes more than money to support a 

36 



RICHES ARE DANGEROUS 37 

family. It takes love, thought, and time. There 
is poverty of soul as well as body. On this basis, 
the family of many a rich man has languished in a 
poorhouse. 

THE COMMUNITY'S STAKE 

The community also has a stake in all this. 
Riches are a danger to a community for many 
reasons. Chief among these reasons rates the 
power of example. It is lamentable that the rich 
should have so much influence in molding the prin- 
ciples and practices of all classes, — but such is the 
case. If you question this, mix with the people of 
any town — large or small — and find out their real 
feelings when not talking for publication. Note 
the salesman in the store, u This is what the Ownit- 
alls buy." Listen to the proud mother, "My 
boy is a great chum of Harold Heir." The rich 
man has a prestige beyond anything to which he 
is entitled. This intangible power imposes upon 
the wealthy a heavy obligation and becomes for 
the community a very definite danger until care- 
fully used. If I may offer a mixed motto: — 
'Wealth oblige." 



38 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

THE RICH SET THE PACE 

More specifically: In any community the pace 
is set by the people of greatest wealth. Woe to 
a town, therefore, if its rich families — at least a 
few of them — do not have the good sense to set 
sane standards. "Doesn't it make you disgusted 
to see the Bluffers trying to put on all this style, 
when nothing of the kind is even thought of by 
the Solidsets, with a hundred times the income?" 
"I say it won't hurt our Willie to take care of the 
furnace, if the Realstuffs think their Ralph isn't 
too good for such work." In every locality there 
are hundreds of intelligent families who need only 
a little sanction of this sort to stiffen their spines 
and give them an excuse for the exercise of com- 
mon sense. But if Mrs. Solidset ever puts a cut 
glass vase in the sedan or the Realstuffs get a lap- 
dog — the city is taken! Wealth is a potential 
danger of the gravest sort because it enables the 
possessor to give the community a pattern. 

The writer started in business with no capital. 
Both in the office and at home, it took careful 
planning to meet expenses. He knows from per- 
sonal experience the incessant pressure that is 



RICHES ARE DANGEROUS 39 

put on people of limited income to over-buy. 
Within recent years the business has grown to a 
point where the income is equal to all reasonable 
demands. He now knows the temptation to go 
his own way regardless of the reaction upon 
others. 

WEALTH IS DIRECTOR OF LABOR 

More obvious — and therefore less to be feared 
— there is another danger. Wealth is a power to 
control labor. With $50,000 at hand, I can set 
labor to erecting a mill — provided there is no 
strike in the building trades. Or I can summon a 
gang to grade my lawn. I can put people at work 
decorating china, raising chickens, printing Bibles, 
studying microbes, excavating ruins, operating 
farms, embroidering garments. In fact, my $50,- 
000 will make people do almost anything under 
the sun. What infinite chances for error ! What 
if I order my forces to butter parsnips when, for 
the good of society, they should be building 
bridges ? 

In the long run, of course, the abuse or the 
mistaken use of wealth is self-limiting. If I in- 
vest in an unrequired line, my capital is soon gone ; 



40 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

but while it lasts, $50,000 can do considerable 
damage. Therefore, the great responsibility of 
making only enduring investments. 

A TRUE PERSPECTIVE OF VALUES 

Statistics have taught me a good many things. 
Statistics have taught me to take care of my 
health. Statistics have helped me in buying and 
selling. By statistics I have learned in a small 
way how to influence others. Recently, statistics 
have been changing my views as to the relative 
importance of the different phases of life. Statis- 
tics have changed my opinion regarding many 
things, including theology. The Bible now is to 
me a treatise on economics and psychology as well 
as a book of spiritual truths. 

When studying the life of Jesus one is not im- 
pressed with that need of self-sacrifice which has 
been so prominently emphasized in the past. One 
even fails to find that Jesus used either the word 
"selfish" or "unselfish." Apparently Jesus ap- 
pealed to His hearers to be long-headed and far- 
sighted. It was their short-sightedness to which 
He objected. He wanted His followers to look 
through to the finish and see what the ultimate re- 



RICHES ARE DANGEROUS 4 1 

suit would be of certain courses of action. Jesus' 
great purpose in life was to get people to have a 
true perspective of values, — to know what is really 
worth while and what is not. 

It makes me impatient to have people refer to 
Jesus as a "poor and wandering carpenter's son." 
If you have any doubt as to Jesus' ability to make 
money, if He so desired, just read the story of His 
taking money from the fish's mouth, the story of 
His multiplying the loaves of bread so as to feed 
five thousand, the story of His turning water into 
wine, or the story of His calling His disciples to 
cast their net on the other side of the ship. Even 
those who question whether these things ever hap- 
pened, must admit that the people thought they 
happened. Any man who could so impress the 
people regarding material things, could have be- 
come a great leader in finance, industry, or politics. 
If Jesus was poor in worldly goods, it was not 
(because He could not make a business success. 
Jesus recognized the fact that when one gets 
enough to eat and wear and a place to live, 
"things" then lose their value. He realized that 
the enduring investments of life come first from 



42 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

a development of man's spiritual nature, and sec- 
ondly from doing things which promote the health, 
happiness, and prosperity of others. 

RICHES NOT A PASSPORT TO HEAVEN 

It is true that many church men are already too 
keen for material things. The church is now too 
much allied with property, wealth, and prosperity. 
Money has its place, but its place is simply a 
means to an end and should not become an end in 
itself. Money is just like food, clothing, and 
sleep. A certain amount of it is necessary; but 
after one gets a certain amount, any excess is a 
care rather than an asset. If the leaders of the 
Church will put their emphasis on Matthew 
19:24, instead of on the need of money, all will 
go well. Statistics show conclusively that Jesus's 
teachings regarding wealth are sound. Most busi- 
ness men who have acquired riches will freely 
admit it. 

While attending a certain Layman's Church 
Conference in Pittsburgh, I was invited to 
luncheon by a prominent Cleveland business man. 
As a guest he had with him the Secretary for Re- 



RICHES ARE DANGEROUS 43 

ligious Work of the Cleveland Y. M. C. A. The 
question arose as to how to interest the wage 
workers of the country in the Church. Also how 
to re-create in these wage workers a desire to pro- 
duce and to take joy in service. I stated that this 
could be done only when we Christian business 
men, who could afford it, would make a real dem- 
onstration of public service from the employers' 
standpoint. I suggested that we could operate our 
industries as a public trust the same as we do our 
library associations, hospital boards, and chari- 
table institutions. 

CAN A THOUSAND RIGHTEOUS BE FOUND? 

The answer was made that if any one business 
man did this at the present time he would be 
severely criticized by his associates and perhaps 
would be misunderstood by his wife and children. 
This probably is true, but would it be true if a 
large group did it? If a thousand manufacturers 
and merchants, with a gross business of a billion 
dollars a year, should agree to use their profits as 
some impartial commission might deem best for 
the community, I am sure that none of these thou- 
sand men would be criticized. Instead, I believe 



44 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

that they would go down into history like the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. They 
would do for industry what our forefathers did 
for democracy. 

Statistics show clearly that to-day we have gone 
crazy over material things and have forgotten 
that the real joys of life come by other means. 
This applies to employers and wage workers, to 
men and women, to all races and nations. Some- 
thing spectacular must be done to bring people to 
their senses in order that they may think along 
better lines. Although this suggestion was made 
simply offhand, at a luncheon in Pittsburgh, may 
there not be something in it? 

The masses must see with their own eyes that 
those of us who own the bulk of the industries 
have the good of . the community at heart and are 
not simply operating these plants for personal 
profit. Furthermore, as more of us get this bigger 
vision our investments will be most enduring in a 
practical, as well as a spiritual sense. Statistics 
show that the lack of this vision on the part of 
investors is responsible for a large percentage of 
the losses. 



CHAPTER V 

MEN VERSUS GOODS 

The real great question facing America is, what 
is the purpose of America? Why was America 
founded and what is America's mission? Does 
the strength of America lie in the developing of 
material things or the developing of human 
beings ? 

PROPERTY OR PEOPLE 

Although many adventurers came to America 
in the early days in search of things, the real set- 
tlers came for the opportunity of self-expression 
and freedom in development. They were not pri- 
marily interested in cutting down forests, develop- 
ing mines, or catching fish. Their chief assets 
were their children, and it was to bring up these 
children in the way they should go that the parents 
came to America. Furthermore, this applies to 
the Catholics who settled in Maryland and to 

those who settled in Virginia and other southern 

45 



46 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

states, as well as to the Pilgrims who settled in 
New England. 

As the nation became more prosperous, we be- 
gan to lose sight of our original purpose ; namely, 
the development of men. We became absorbed in 
the development of things. We forgot that our 
ancestors came to America to give little children 
a chance. Instead of giving them a chance, we 
thrust them into mines and mills. We made prop- 
erty of more value than human life, and industry 
of more importance than spiritual growth. 

In the early days, the white-steepled church on 
the public green was the most important edifice in 
the town, and the preacher at the church was the 
leading citizen of that community. As wealth in- 
creased, a great factory building became the most 
important structure and the president of the bank 
usurped the place of the preacher. This is not said 
in the way of criticism. Such a trend is only nat- 
ural, and all of us have done our part in this turn- 
ing from the faith of our fathers. 

SWING THE PENDULUM THE OTHER WAY 

Just because we have gone far in the wrong 
direction, this is no reason why we should not stop 



MEN VERSUS GOODS 47 

and get started in the right direction again. The 
same conflict between men and goods rages to-day 
in the United States as raged in Europe centuries 
ago when America was founded. There is no rea- 
son why we should not free ourselves from exist- 
ing circumstances as did our forefathers in the 
olden days. Most of us started out by being in- 
terested in man. In the heat of the economic 
struggle we have forgotten man. We are striv- 
ing now only to increase output, develop foreign 
trade, build up bank deposits, and make our cities 
bigger and busier. But we know that the bigger 
and busier our cities become, the more iilth, the 
more sickness, the more crime, and the more 
unhappiness may be generated. Yes; we, like our 
ancestors, are faced with the question whether 
henceforth we shall seek to develop men or de- 
velop industries. 

NO PLACE FOR SENTIMENTALITY 

Do not think that these words are written from 
a sentimental point of view. They constitute no 
brief for socialism, unionism, or any of the other 
isms that are supposed to benefit humanity. All 
such institutions have a common character. They 



48 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

are useful to a certain extent; but as they become 
big and powerful, the good is lost sight of. 

Labor unions, for example, started with the best 
of intentions to put a greater value on men than 
on things. As these unions increased in power, 
however, some began to discourage industry, ini- 
tiative, intelligence, incentive, and even, in some 
instances, integrity. A few put a premium on 
indolence, indifference, inefficiency, and the like. 
When this point is reached, the labor unions cease 
to be a factor in the developing of men and ac- 
tually result in retarding that development. 

Every right-minded citizen must back up the 
Government in its determination to maintain law 
and order. Even if the wage workers have a 
real grievance, this does not atone for crime. 
Wage workers as well as employers should be ser- 
vants of the entire community and not of any one 
group. But something more than legislation and 
soldiers is necessary to keep them such. We who 
give employment must act in a way that will com- 
mand the loyalty and respect of our employees. 
Wage workers are loyal to us only as we are loyal 



MEN VERSUS GOODS 49 

to them. Our employees trust us only as we trust 
them. 

WHAT BOTHERS ME 

During a certain labor trouble, I went into one 
of Boston's largest banks with some securities. 
Marching up and down in front of the bank were 
soldiers with rifles. Not only that, but a negro 
porter sat in a chair within the door with a belt of 
cartridges carelessly put around his neck like a 
string of beads. Everything was guarded as if 
this were the most sacred spot in America. After 
leaving the bank I visited a Washington Street 
jewelry store, in order to exchange an electric 
lamp. Here the same procedure was going on, 
though on a smaller scale. Guards were walking 
back and forth with guns on their shoulders and 
belts full of cartridges. Mind you, one should 
not criticize these soldiers. Most of them were 
serving at distinct personal sacrifice. They were 
simply obeying the law. 

PROPERTY PROTECTED; PEOPLE NOT 

On my way home I went through Cambridge. 
On the corner of a street was a group of people. 



50 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

It was necessary to slow up my automobile, owing 
to the congestion. I inquired the cause of the 
trouble and learned that a poor family was be- 
ing evicted from its home. The landlord had 
raised the rent and the family was put upon the 
street, — a mother with several children and an 
old grandmother. It was a sad sight. Upon 
reaching the office, I took up the day's mail. The 
first letter was from a woman inquiring of me 
the whereabouts of a certain man who had got 
her daughter into trouble. The particulars she 
gave in her letter were very harrowing. 

As I sat in my office that evening the theory of 
the Bolshevist came into my mind. For the first 
time I momentarily caught his grievance, — that the 
government is organized to protect property 
rather than people. No soldiers were in Cam- 
bridge to protect that poor family which was be- 
ing evicted from its home. No armed force was 
ready to guard that girl and her mother from 
devastation by a well-known man. Little heed is 
given to the security of souls. But when banks or 
stores are threatened, the entire State Guard of 
7,000 men is immediately called. 



MEN VERSUS GOODS 5 1 

This is not hasty fault finding. I realize the 
answer to this paradox of property and people is 
that soldiers fulfil the law. The law has been 
enacted to protect banks and jewelry stores to a 
much greater extent than to protect widows and 
their daughters. We cannot blame the minions 
of the law. We cannot blame the legislators. 
They are simply enacting the will of their constitu- 
encies. The blame is ours, and ours alone. You 
and I have set up a code of laws under which 
property and capital receive greater respect than 
health and happiness. But unless this is changed 
there will be a reaction that will wipe out the in- 
vestments of many of us. 

The Scriptures tell us to place important 
things first. We have not done it. We have 
placed important things second. I believe that this 
is the cause of the radical movements of to-day. 
Only as we rectify this maladjustment can Bolshe- 
vism be curbed. In any city where a telephone call 
from a poor widow's home will receive the same 
attention as a telephone call from a prominent 
jewelry store, there will be no growth of Bolshe- 
vism. Let us seek to bring about such conditions 



52 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

in our own communities. Let us not destroy or 
diminish any of the defences of property. Prop- 
erty is simply the stored-up labor of humanity. 
But let us have equal safeguards for humanity it- 
self. Let us get behind those who are interested 
in making human life healthier, happier, and more 
productive. 

What applies to the poor widows and children 
applies also to the small merchant and business 
man. Here is another relatively defenceless class 
that should be protected if our investments are 
to endure. 



LOWER THE BUSINESS DEATH RATE 

The following statement of a Committee of 
the Governors of the various states of the Union 
should be hung in the office of every banker, manu- 
facturer, and merchant. This statement does not 
mean that we should attempt to hold up prices 
or otherwise interfere with economic laws; but 
only that we, as communities, should try to pre- 
vent business failures. As we have a fire depart- 
ment to prevent fire losses and a health department 



MEN VERSUS GOODS 53 

to prevent sickness, so we should unite to prevent 
unnecessary losses in business. 

"Let every individual do all he can to help and 
encourage his neighbor. Let there be a complete 
mobilization of the financial and spiritual assets 
of every community. Neither God nor the Gov- 
ernment ought to be asked to help those who do 
not first make every effort possible to help them- 
selves. 

"There ought, however, to be a united effort in 
every community to keep any good man and wo- 
man from being destroyed because he cannot im- 
mediately meet his obligations. Under exist- 
ing conditions it would be the acme of inhumanity 
and of unwisdom to force any debtor into bank- 
ruptcy if by the most liberal indulgence he would 
ultimately be able to pay. 

"Liberal indulgences and renewals should be 
granted by the manufacturers to the jobbers, by the 
jobbers to the merchants, by the merchants to the 
individuals. It is no time for a creditor to seize 
his debtor by the throat and savagely say: 'Pay 
me what thou owest.' " 

The same trend of modern business thought is 



54 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

illustrated by an editorial which appeared in the 
Boston Herald of January 31, 192 1, entitled "Is 
Bankruptcy Finding a Substitute?" It is encour- 
aging to find this new attitude voiced in the press. 
The editorial is substantially as follows : 

Through the federal reserve system, as a means of 
extending credit, our bankruptcy practices are undergo- 
ing an undoubted modification. Just as the conventional 
lawyer is supposed to be technical, so the conventional 
business man is supposed to be a believer in "succeed or 
smash." A cartoon hanging in many offices shows the 
creditor as a burly blusterer lording it over a pallid, 
hopeless debtor. It is impossible to imagine friendly co- 
operation between the* two figures in this cartoon. But 
unless there has been a great deal of such cooperation, 
the critical period of readjustment would have been a 
financial smash of no mean order. 

The truth is that the conventional idea of the creditor 
is far from accurate. Satisfying as the crash of bank- 
ruptcy may be to the vengeful ear, business men who are 
long-headed as well as hard-headed realize that in many 
cases an extension of credit to an honest debtor will do 
much more toward filling their pocketbooks. Under our 
old credit system the practical application of this prin- 
ciple in times of stress was very difficult. Now the fed- 
eral reserve system by giving centralization and much 
needed elasticity is helping forward a great change. 
Largely through its aid banks and creditors' committees 
are able quietly to carry along dozens of distressed busi- 
ness concerns, although they know that it may take 
months or even years to get debtors on their feet again. 

The tendency toward a modification in the practice of 
bankruptcy will disappear, We shall always have ven- 



MEN VERSUS GOODS 55 

tures so unwise or unfortunate that the potter's field 
is their best resting place. Neither can we expect to 
abolish the over-impatient creditor or the over-recalcitrant 
debtor. But business is waking up to the fact that where 
there is something worth salvaging a "private failure" 
is immensely more economical than the ostentation and 
expense of a court funeral. More important still, the 
realization is growing that it is sheer economic murder 
to thro\ into bankruptcy a useful concern which may be 
privately revivified. 

It is with business in the class last referred to that we 
are particularly concerned. It is impossible to prove how 
many such failures are now being kept out of the bank- 
ruptcy court. Examination of the confidential files of 
half a dozen banks would tell an interesting story. But 
publicity is no feature of the new practice. Creditors 
who are pulling a "private failure" out of a hole rarely 
desire to hurt their debtor's reputation by advertising 
what they have done. Yet, even if figures are lacking, 
a talk with almost any banker will afford evidence of 
the general desire to grant reasonable cooperation in the 
liquidation of indebtedness. This attitude has enabled 
us to weather the troubles of the past. A continuation 
of the attitude during the future will be of the greatest 
value, not only to individual commercial concerns, but 
to the whole structure of business. 



CHAPTER VI 

GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 

A lifetime of work with investors has im- 
pressed me with the prodigious losses that result 
from the trying to get something for nothing in the 
realm of speculation and investment. Everybody 
is complaining about taxes. Statistics show that 
by saving the money annually contributed to 
crooks and incompetents, confidence men and blue 
sky operators, bunco steerers, and business im- 
beciles — with this huge sum conserved — no other 
taxation would be necessary. Incidentally I would 
recommend for the consideration of Congress, a 
bill providing that for every dollar which a per- 
son loses in get-rich-quick schemes, he should be 
assessed another dollar as tribute to the govern- 
ment. All other taxes to be abolished. 

But what I have in mind now in speaking of 
this apparently unquenchable desire to get some- 
thing for nothing, is not so much the financial as- 

56 



GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 57 

pect as the spiritual. For instance, we usually 
think of the Biblical account of Ananias and Sap- 
phira as the classic example of the liar. Dr. La- 
velle, former U. S. Minister to Guatemala, has 
pointed out, however, that the real significance of 
this story is the sin of trying to get something 
for nothing. The story as told in Acts 4 :34-37lS 
as follows: 

"Neither was there any among them that 
lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands 
or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the 
things that were sold. And laid them down at the 
apostles* feet; and distribution was made unto 
every man according as he had need. 

"But a certain man named Ananias, with Sap- 
phira, his wife, sold a possession, and kept back a 
part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, 
and brought a certain part, and laid it at the 
apostles' feet. 

"But Peter said : 'Ananias, why hath Satan filled 
thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep 
back part of the price of the land? Whilst it re- 
mained, was it not thine own and after it was 
sold, was it not thine own power ? Why hast thou 



58 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast 
not lied unto men, but unto God.' 

"And Ananias hearing these words fell down, 
and gave up the ghost ; and great fear came on all 
them that heard these things. And the young men 
arose, bound him up, carried him out, and buried 
him. It was about the space of three hours after, 
when his wife, not knowing what was done, came 
in. 

"Peter said unto her : 'Tell me whether ye sold 
the land for so much?' and she said, 'Yea, for so 
much.' 

"Then Peter said unto her : 'How is it that ye 
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the 
Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have 
buried thy husband are at the door, and shall car- 
ry thee out.' 

"Then fell she down straightway at his feet, 
and yielded up the ghost ; and the young men came 
in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, 
buried her by her husband. And great fear came 
upon all the church, and upon as many as heard 
these things." 

To quote Dr. Lavelle's commentary: — 

"Now, that is the story of a conscienceless and 



GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 59 

shrewd attempt to get something of value for less 
than it was worth. A certain honor was attached 
to this deposit in a common fund from which the 
need of every one was to be supplied without dis- 
crimination. Those who deposited much, those 
who deposited 'little, and those unable to deposit 
anything were to be helped. No distinction was 
to be made between those who sacrificed every- 
thing and those who had nothing to sacrifice. 

"You do not have to approve this primitive ef- 
fort to create a practical sort of communism, or 
even agree that such an attempt toward the eco- 
nomic solution of the problem of living was either 
wise or possible, in order to appreciate the spirit 
of brotherhood that marked those who sacrificed 
their worldly possessions in this wholly unselfish 
way. Neither is it difficult for us to understand 
how those who made the sacrifice would regard 
those who were not willing to make it, and how 
utterly they would loathe everybody who would, 
by some dishonest and fraudulent scheme, attempt 
to compass the honor attached to the sacrifice. 

"This is what Ananias and his wife attempted 
to do. They were unwilling to go without the 
honor, but they were not willing to pay full price 



6o ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

for it. They 'kept back part of the price.' They 
desired to stand on the same level with their fel- 
low-disciples, but wanted to do so at a lower and 
a cheaper rate. It was not only an attempt to 
practice a fraud on their brethren, it was more 
and worse than that. The apostle characterized it 
as an attempt to practice a deliberate fraud on 
God. Nobody can do that successfully; and the 
record declares that the two who attempted to 
perpetrate this fraud were overtaken by a disas- 
trous and well-deserved fate. 

"Even in the material world it is a difficult thing 
to get something for nothing. It is done some- 
times, although the effort to do it commonly fails. 
But in the moral and spiritual world it is not pos- 
sible to win values without paying full price for 
them. You cannot get them at a discount, under 
their value. There are no auction sales where 
moral values can be bought below cost, or above 
it." 

WILL YOU PAY THE PRICE? 

Many a man in business is eager to put per- 
sons above things, but is not willing to pay the 
price. He is not willing to reorganize his sweat- 



GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 6 1 

shop or his sweat-store so that human beings 
may work therein in health and happiness. He 
attempts a short-cut to grace and glory by donat- 
ing a drinking fountain to the town. Other men 
have tried to shade the price by proffering play- 
grounds, welfare work, profit sharing, and other 
partial payments. All these are excellent; but 
they are incomplete. The full price and the strict 
terms require the complete subordination of things 
and the complete elevation of men. There is no 
short-cut to enduring investments. 

ENDURING INVESTMENTS THE SAFEST 

Statistics show that the investments founded on 
Christian principles are the safest and that the 
Ananias kind are the most risky. Instructors in 
the economic and financial departments of our 
universities and colleges are making a great mis- 
take in giving so much attention to the statistical 
side of investments and so little to the moral or 
ethical side. Yet, the latter features are infinitely 
more important. The world is ruled by feelings, 
not by figures. The real security for our invest- 
ments depends not on property, but on the integ- 
rity of the people. The bonds, stocks, mortgages, 



62 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

and bank books in our safety deposit boxes are 
valueless in themselves. Their real value is the in- 
tegrity, faith, thrift, and purposes of the people. 
This is very evident when one considers that the 
great bulk of the securities are owned by only 
about five per cent, of the people while ninety-five 
per cent, own very little. Yet only fifty-one per 
cent, are needed to confiscate all debts and make 
our bonds, stocks and mortgages valueless. 

But the attitude of the masses is not the only 
ethical factor to watch when considering enduring 
investments. A corporation whose officers are 
not God-fearing men may be in as critical a condi- 
tion as if it existed in a community of Bolshevists. 
The securities of either class of corporation are 
far from enduring investments ; — in fact, they are 
very risky investments. The securities of corpora- 
tions with selfish or Godless men in control — 
men who can think only of themselves regardless 
of the rights of others — are the risky securi- 
ties and cannot be recommended as enduring in- 
vestments. These are the corporations which have 
labor difficulties, contract cancellations, law suits, 
stock exchange corners, and similar troubles. 



GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 63 

MUNICIPAL BONDS 

I have instructed my family to invest only in 
municipal bonds after my death. Why? Because 
they are "savings bank investments" ? No, most 
assuredly not ! Some of the most popular of the 
savings bank investments such as the bonds of the 
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad 
Company have suffered the greatest declines. 
This was largely because the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford Railroad failed to perform 
the required service to the community through 
which it ran. It is the element of service which 
determines security. 

My family is instructed to buy municipal bonds 
because the money paid for them is used for per- 
manent improvements which benefit the whole 
community. New schoolhouses, better roads, im- 
proved sewerage systems make all the people heal- 
thier, happier and more prosperous. Hence, the 
bonds sold to provide the money for these things 
are the safest bonds to buy. Thus, municipal bonds 
are far more enduring than corporation bonds. 
Moreover, to the extent that the money received 
by the Federal and State Governments is used for 



64 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

good purposes (and not to fatten the pocketbooks 
of political profiteers) ; so are "Liberty" and state 
bonds likewise a form of enduring investments. 

FIGURES VERSUS ETHICS 

Security, statistically speaking, depends upon a 
true value of assets owned by the debtor, apply- 
ing these first to the payment of bonds and other 
liabilities, and then to the outstanding stock. 

Yield, in the case of stock, is the amount of 
dividend per share, divided by the actual invest- 
ment per share. In the case of bonds, there is an 
addition to this "annual return" which recognizes 
the present worth of the gain in receiving par at 
maturity in the case of a bond bought at a dis- 
count; or the loss in case the buyer pays a premium 
for the bond. 

Marketability is a factor which no investor can 
afford to neglect, no matter how great the se- 
curity, nor how satisfactory the income. Without 
the assurance that the issue is known in some mar- 
ket where there is a resale demand, the owner is 
in the position of the holder of an annuity and 
not that of an investor. His principal is not at 
his disposal, however much he may desire it. 



GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING 65 

There is an additional group of conditions af- 
fecting investments that we recognize as the Ethi- 
cal Factor. These influences are not easily re- 
duced to figures nor deducible from current bal- 
ance sheets, but they have their effect. 

Why did the keenest analysts advise purchase of 
railroad bonds at a time when statistical data indi- 
cated the worst showing in their history? Because 
they saw we had reached for the first time recogni- 
tion, in principle, at least, of justice in relation to 
railroads, of the right of capital invested in the 
property to a fair return, of the right of labor to 
a fair wage, and of the right of the public to 
fair service at the lowest possible cost. Why were 
industrial issues a sale at the very time that their 
earning statements were the best in all history? 
Because at that time our entire industrial life was 
being conducted in a spirit of unfairness and in- 
justice. The general attitude of the worker, of 
the manufacturer, and the merchant was for each 
to get all that he could without any consideration 
of the service rendered in return. The inevitable 
result was the "buyers' strike" which carried down 
some of the worst offenders in industry into the 
ruin of their own making. 



66 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

When an investment is being considered, more 
important than the figures on any corporation are 
its relations with employees and with the public, 
the honest performance of contract, and a repu- 
tation for good faith and honor. These are the 
things which make up the Ethical Factor. Sta- 
tistics show that a worthy purpose of issue and a 
righteous management form the bases of an en- 
during financial investment in the stock or bond 
class. 



CHAPTER VII 

RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 

One of the world's greatest manufacturers of 
automobiles puts in the hands of each owner a 
book of instructions. In a prominent place in 
this book, is printed in boldfaced type the follow- 
ing impressive warning: 

"More motors have been ruined by racing while 
idle than have ever been worn out in actual driv- 
ing under load." 

In this respect, men are much like motors. 

You have heard people say: 

"I have given the world long years of faithful 
service. Now the world owes me a little life 
of leisure. I have earned the right to retire. I 
claim my reward." 

Is this the sensible point of view? A man is 
designed to operate under load. Remove the load 
and he fails to function. One sees this demon- 
strated repeatedly. Often one hears that some 
grand old man has relinquished the burden to 

younger shoulders. He intends to busy himself 

67 



68 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

with minor activities, or perhaps to travel. The 
next thing one hears is that he has set forth upon 
his last journey. 

STAY ON THE JOB IF YOU WANT TO STAY ON EARTH 

Retirement seems to have two malignant re- 
actions. First: Accustomed by long years to a 
certain regimen, the body cannot successfully re- 
adjust itself to new modes of life, and perishes in 
the attempt. Second: When no longer claimed 
by outside affairs, the mind turns inward upon 
itself, with lethal consequences. 

So one wonders whether retirement is a goal or 
a — sentence! Certainly until adequate statistics 
have been collected and the whole subject has been 
explored scientifically, no one can afford to con- 
template this step lightly. A physician who has 
had unusual opportunities to observe men in busi- 
ness, tells me that retirement is a distinct shock 
to the system and attended by profound physio- 
logical and psychological reactions. One of my 
associates who is active in church work has ex- 
amined the records. He advises me that they 
show a marked tendency toward rapid decline 
among clergymen who have been superannuated. 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 69 

We have seen many a good man round out his 
period of service. We have seen him reach for 
retirement as a reward, — only to receive his final 
reward. Superstition, if you like, but I am not 
ambitious to throw off the load and run idle. It 
is very possible that the wages of retirement is 
death. 

To brighten these rather gloomy ponderings, 
shall we dismiss the topic by recalling the familiar 
but still serviceable story of the weeping ancient? 
A wayfarer, so runs the comedy, came upon an 
exceedingly ancient man weeding a garden. He 
was old beyond all description, aged to excess ; and 
as he weeded, he wept. Alike amazed at his ad- 
vanced years and puzzled at his tears, the way- 
farer ventured: 

"Venerable sir, why do you weep?" 

Still continuing his weeding, the ancient made 
answer : 

"Please, mister, because this morning before 
I went to work my pop gave me a licking." 

"Your pop!" gasped the wayfarer, "Licked 
you! And what for?" 

The ancient wiped a dimming eye with the cor- 
ner of his flowing beard. 



70 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

"Because," he sniffed, "I wouldn't help grandad 
with the chores." 

No thought of retirement here! 

PREMATURE RETIREMENT 
There are two types of retirement that seem 
especially to be deplored. There is first the pre- 
mature retirement. We can excuse the gradual 
retreat of the aged, but what apology can be found 
for the man who retires from business at the full 
height of his strength and abilities ? Having made 
his pile, he quits the game. This man is a plain 
slacker. The very action confesses that his domi- 
nant aim is not service but money alone. When 
business ideals and ethics become more fully ma- 
tured, public opinion will deal with a man of this 
stamp. He will be court-martialed at the drum- 
head of publicity. He will learn that in peace, no 
less than in war, the world has no use for the 
deserter. 

The second flagrant case of retirement is that 
of the man who leaves business at a ripe age but 
with the intention of doing no more useful work 
of any kind whatsoever. He resembles the in- 
habitants of the fabled town. u What do people 
do in this town?" asked the tourist. "Well, some 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 7 1 

of them set and think," replied a native, 4t and 
others just set." Any man who looks forward 
to unalloyed idleness is but dreaming of death. 

COWARDLY TO RETIRE 

There is no paradise for non-producers in this 
world, and perhaps not in the world to come. 
Whether rich or poor, the parasite is a pest. Thou- 
sands of people imagine it would be a grand and 
glorious feeling to knock off work and just loaf. 
But what happens when you get laid up and are 
compelled to loaf? Once the disability has passed 
and you are feeling like yourself again, there 
comes an actual hunger for activity. "Rest?" 
roared one of our philosophers, "have we not all 
eternity in which to rest?" Life is activity. Al- 
ways, we should be busy with good works. A busi- 
ness man does the cowardly thing in quitting a 
business as soon as he gets enough for himself. 
He ought to continue in business, but have for 
his goal the good of the community and his em- 
ployees instead of the further accumulation of 
personal profits. When he does so, he begins to 
get the real enjoyment of making an enduring 
investment. 



72 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

RETIRING AND REFORMING 

There is another side to this question of re- 
tirement, more significant than the personal phase. 
It refers to and includes a certain type of business 
man to whom "retire" spells "reform." To such 
a man, retirement means — consciously or uncon- 
sciously — the swing from getting to giving, from 
labor to love, from preying to praying. In other 
words, to retire from business implies a funda- 
mental shift in all of life's values. Herein lies the 
real sin. 

After all, there is probably no great gain or 
loss to the world at large, whether you or I add or 
subtract a paltry decade or so in our declining 
years. Longevity is not a measure of achieve- 
ment. Idiots attain to incredible ages. No ! The 
issue is more than personal. What counts with 
the world about your living and mine is not How 
Long but How — how we live the great active span 
of life. Shall we remain business cave-men during 
the period of our maximum endeavor, postponing 
all else until we retire ? Or shall we follow exactly 
the opposite policy of building a business from 
which it shall not be necessary to retire in order 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 73 

to find the better things? This is what counts — 
with reference to society. 

THE BUSINESS CAVE-MAN 

Reducing the general principle to specific ex- 
amples, here is Mr. A., the business cave-man. 
For forty years he has sweated his workers. The 
output of his factory is tremendous — lots of mer- 
chandise, also lots of human wrecks and ruins. He 
is looking forward to the time when he will retire. 
In his mind is the project of building a great hos- 
pital at this time, which shall serve as an offset to 
any damage that he may have caused. Or it may 
be that he has in mind the gift of a library — upon 
his retirement — which may counter-balance the 
years in which his slave-driving has deprived men 
and women of even the opportunity for reading. 

With another man, in this same class, post- 
retirement activities may take the form of study, 
touring, the collection of objects of art, or simi- 
lar cultural projects. Meanwhile, his plant and 
environments are destitute of all beauty and de- 
void of all culture. These specifications of Mr. 
A's life might be amplified indefinitely, but from 



74 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

these brief hints I think you will have no difficulty 
in forming a mental photograph of this man. 

REFORM AT THE BEGINNING, NOT AT THE END, OF 
YOUR BUSINESS CAREER 

On the other side we have Mr. B. who has no 
thought of retiring from business. In the back 
of his head there are no pretty pictures of future 
hospitals, libraries, and other elegancies of lei- 
sure. His life is so bound up with his business 
that the two are felt to be a unit. He realizes 
that his worth to the world will be measured by 
this single standard and in consequence he builds 
accordingly. His contributions to the cause of 
health are made in the form of wholesome work- 
ing conditions. His share in increasing the world's 
happiness is contributed in the form of giving 
men and women opportunities for a happy day's 
work. Reading and refinement are not withheld 
from the present generation of workers with an 
idea that these benefits will be given to some future 
generation of workers. The good he does is 
done here and now, rather than postponed until 
he can retire. 

This attitude and policy are not limited to his 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 75 

employees, but are extended to include the two 
great classes, namely; first, his customers, and 
second, those from whom he purchases. The idea 
is now pretty firmly established in business that 
service should be given to customers and that a 
transaction which does not benefit the customer 
is in the long run a transaction that cannot benefit 
the concern. But we are still very far from having 
learned the corollary lesson that it does not pay 
to injure those from whom we buy our goods. For 
the man who is looking forward to retirement, 
principles of this kind may seem too new fangled 
for actual practice, but the man who knows that 
his record is being made during his business life 
rather than afterwards, sees all these things in a 
very different light. Moreover, N£r. B. does not 
look upon his business merely as a ladder by 
which he alone may climb up. He does not look 
forward to some distant day when he will con- 
itemptuously kick down this ladder, loaded with 
the men and women who have helped to put him 
where he is. 

The above sections had been written when one 
of my manuscript readers made the suggestion 



{]6 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

that instead of naming my characters "Mr. A." 
and "Mr. B.," I should use some other letters of 
the alphabet, because "Mr. B." might be taken as 
a complacent reference to myself. I was about to' 
make the suggested change, and then thought: 

"No, let it stand. It's my creed if not my 
record." 

"a man's reach must exceed his grasp" 

Doubtless in our own organization we have 
fallen short of the ideal sketched above as Mr. 
B's business career. Nevertheless this represents 
a standard toward which we have sincerely strug- 
gled, and it shall remain as a statement of faith 
at least, however far from a literal chronicle. 

The proposition, then, is simply this. A man's 
basic attitude toward his work has a most pro- 
found influence upon the direction and character 
of that work. If his program is split into two 
parts, business and post-business, — then his busi- 
ness career is inevitably cheapened and degraded. 
There is always the feeling that for any question- 
able practice indulged at present, he may give re- 
compense during the period of retirement. There 
is always the hope that he will be judged by the 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 77 

double standard, — in one light as an active busi- 
ness man, in another light as a retired business 
man. There is always the delusion that the public 
may let the good works of the future Dr. Jekyl re- 
pay the mischief wrought by the present Mr. 
Hyde. 

BUILD A BUSINESS WORTHY OF YOURSELF 

The other basic attitude strictly and perpetu- 
ally identifies the man with his business. For bet- 
ter or for worse he is to be judged by the work 
of to-day. There is no future period of atone- 
ment. It is now or never. Having adopted this 
attitude, it is impossible that a man should not 
order his business along very different and very 
much more commendable lines. Moreover, is it 
right that a man's best years should be devoted to 
the proposition that "business is business," and 
only his waning powers be dedicated to a nobler 
conception? 

The benefits that accrue to one from a refusal 
to retire from business have been mentioned. In 
other words, to stay on the job seems to be the 
surest way of staying on earth. The second phase 
of the subject is its broader application. A man's 



,78 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

determination to retire from business consciously 
or unconsciously changes his whole relations to 
business and the world. We come now to the 
third phase of this question, the importance of 
vacations instead of retirement. 

IT HELPS BOTH YOU AND THE BUSINESS TO LET IT 
ALONE OCCASIONALLY 

There are many desirable activities which the 
utmost ingenuity cannot mesh with one's regular 
business. The executive at the head of a large 
retail store, for example, may find it difficult to 
include among his strictly business functions the 
tour of the world, upon which he has set his 
heart. The man who has a hobby for geological 
exploration may be unable to unite this with his 
responsibilities as head of a hardware factory. 
This discussion should not be interpreted as ad- 
vocating that a man's activities should be limited 
to his purely business duties; but rather that the 
best solution will be found in what we may call 
occasional retirements. A man may leave his 
business for a short time and still feel that he is 
a part instead of apart. There is all the differ- 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 79 

ence in the world in a man's feelings toward his 
business if he has abandoned it altogether, or if 
he has merely withdrawn partially and tempo- 
rarily. 

This policy has two-fold benefits. In the first 
place these little vacations have their useful reac- 
tion upon the man himself. When drawn aside 
from the immediate scene of his daily life, the man 
is enabled to view it in better perspective. His 
problems, perplexities, and ambitions re-apportion 
themselves and he returns to the job with fresh- 
ened energies and clarified judgments. In the 
second place, these occasional recesses are helpful 
to the business itself. As long as a man remains 
in immediate contact with his organization, there 
is a feeling that whatever he may say to the con- 
trary, the real responsibilities are still carried by 
him rather than the members of his organization. 

LET YOUR ASSOCIATES REALLY DRIVE INSTEAD OF 
JUST HOLD THE REINS 

Years ago in my childhood days at Glou- 
cester, it was the customary thing to teach a boy 
to drive a horse by letting him first hold only the 



80 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

loose ends of the reins. The next step was to let 
him handle the reins himself while his father or 
older brother still held a firm grip on the ends. 
The final step was to let him drive wholly alone. 
Then — and not until then — was he really driving. 
Similarly with a business, members of an organiza- 
tion can never fully feel that they are doing the 
driving until the boss has actually let go of the 
reins for a time. Many a going business has 
crumpled up when the directing head retired, 
simply because the organization had never been 
trained to run itself. 

No man can serve two masters. No man can 
be mastered by predatory and anti-social instincts 
for the better part of a life-time, with the hope 
of a higher service at the tail-end of his career. 
Life must be unified. We have discredited the 
double standard of morality. We are beginning 
to doubt the double standard that permits a man 
to separate his business and his personal conduct, 
or his week day dealings and his Sabbath profes- 
sions. Let all seek the abolition of this other 
double standard that permits a man to retire from 
business, as though he could thereby exonerate 
himself for sinful and sordid business acts. 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS 8 1 

WHY SHOULD YOU RETIRE? 

Do you retire from business because you are 
ashamed of it? Better to build a business of 
which you are not ashamed. 

Do you retire from business because you are un- 
able longer to support its burdens? Better to 
build an organization that can share these bur- 
dens. 

Do you retire from business because you want 
to do something for humanity? There is no 
better place in the world for this than right in 
your own business. 

Desire for retirement is confession of failure. 
There is no reason or excuse for retiring from 
business, except disability or death. Moreover, 
business is the best possible treatment for most 
kinds of disability. Statistics further suggest 
that business — while it may not be the fountain 
of perpetual youth — will, if properly organized 
and operated — increase a man's life by many 
years. 

Let me close this chapter with the cynical quo- 
tation describing the type of business man who is 
fast disappearing. This type of business man di-> 
vides his career into three stages : 



82 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

First: To get on. 

Second: To get honor. 

Third: To get honest. 

This mongrel policy was the result of shaping 
the career with a view to eventual retirement and 
reformation. 

It is clear that business will be immensely puri- 
fied when men no longer plan to retire but stay on 
the job. This change of program will lead to 
such business house-cleaning as the world has 
never seen. For if we plan to live in our office 
all our life, we shall want our office fit to live in. 
Then shall we create for ourselves and families 
investments which will truly endure. 



PART II 

In this second part another slant is given 
to the word enduring. Instead of stock and 
bond investments, human souls, Christian edu- 
cational institutions, and various forms of 
benevolences are emphasized as the only truly 
enduring investments. Furthermore, logical 
arguments are given as to why this is so. 



CHAPTER VIII 

METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 

Whether or not our efforts result in good 
is the test of both rules of conduct and invest- 
ment. But the desired end is only to be attained 
by having these results endure. Moreover, these 
good and enduring results are obtainable only by 
those who have their minds fixed on some object 
other than their own happiness; that is, on the 
happiness of others and on the improvement of 
mankind. 

How does this conception of happiness size up 
with the aspirations of men as we find them? The 
savage is apparently happy when he has enough 
food for himself and family. The semi-savage, 
of an altruistic temperament, requires that his 
tribe shall have enough food. Civilized man feels 
that not only food, but shelter, clothing, and many 
other articles of comfort, convenience, and en- 
lightenment, are necessary for his happiness. 

85 



86 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

MONEY VERSUS HAPPINESS 

The attainment of these desires, however, very 
seldom results in the end anticipated. How much 
evidence there is in the world to-day that property 
of itself does not bring happiness ! That all the 
advantages which money can buy do not bring 
happiness. The happiest men to-day are those 
serving their fellow men. Those men of vision 
are seeking to further spiritual and mental prog- 
ress. The degree of their happiness is in direct 
proportion to their own consciousness of effective 
service. 

There are many men to-day who are imbued 
with the idea of service to their fellow men, who 
hope for the opportunity to render some notable 
service to the world. Many of these will suc- 
ceed through true vision, intelligent effort, or 
fortuitous circumstance in exercizing a potent in- 
fluence in the development of mankind. There is 
a much larger group of other men, however, who 
do not clearly see the light of service, but who 
nevertheless, are diligently seeking happiness each 
in his own way. Many of these are failing be- 
cause they are endeavoring to reach the goal 



METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 87 

through temporary profits rather than through 
enduring investments. They are finding this an 
impossible road. 

Is it not a fact many of our wealthy families 
would be far happier without their money? That 
in many cases the pursuit of wealth has impaired 
health and destroyed family happiness? That 
many boys and girls have been trained in ways 
of selfishness instead of ways of service? How 
true it is that profits in many businesses have been 
wrung from the very bodies of the workers and 
have caused untold suffering and misery! Think, 
for example, of the many businesses that require 
overtime in hurtful surroundings for the sake of 
added profit. 

MONEY VERSUS SERVICE 

The aggregation of capital in the hands of cer- 
tain high-minded men of vision may be a good 
thing for society. Surely many notable discover- 
ies and enterprises which have benefited mankind 
would have been deferred far into the future had 
such accumulations been prohibited. The same 
wealth distributed among the people would doubt- 
less have failed of any like accomplishment. 



88 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

Nevertheless, the pursuit of money is a futile 
course for the average seeker after happiness. 
Profits are too closely associated with selfishness. 
Selfishness is the opposite pole to service. 

As will be later shown, many are serving so- 
ciety by maintaining their business, giving work 
(to employees and reinvesting profits to make that 
business grow and furnish work for more workers. 
We are also benefiting society although we reinvest 
our profits in outside businesses; but this is an 
indirect means of action for able-bodied men. 
That degree of service which will bring us the 
greatest amount of happiness is what we should 
each strive for. It is probably more attainable by 
activity within our own business and with our 
own employees than by investment in an outside 
industry. 

It is true that in an economic sense profits in one 
way or another find their way back into industry 
and thus benefit mankind — unless we bury them in 
the ground. The huge amounts of stocks and 
bonds listed on our stock exchanges give testimony 
to the large sums of money which we are invest- 
ing in the other man's business. But no such 



METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 89 

happiness is associated with this use of profits as 
when invested in one's own business. It is too 
remote. Piling up profits for the purpose of rein- 
vesting in this manner soon palls on the man who 
is actively seeking to use his money to serve his 
fellow men. On the other hand, the business man 
who makes and distributes profits as he goes along 
within his own business, under his personal super- 
vision, has very much better prospects. 

THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS 

Happiness comes from within, not from with- 
out. It cannot be purchased. On the contrary — 
as has already been shown — the very means taken 
to acquire profits often prove fatal to happiness. 
No matter how large the profits may become their 
whole idea is of more. The day when the money 
is to be expended on one's fellow men is pushed 
farther and farther into the future. Many hope 
that the mere acquirement of wealth and its 
accompanying financial influence and power will 
cause happiness to come as a matter of course 
They find their satisfaction short-lived. A large 
number who lose their health and influence seek 



90 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

to regain it with their wealth. The real trouble 
is that these men acquire along with their wealth 
a wrong philosophy of life, a misconception of 
their relations to society. They lose sight of the 
fact that property of itself is of no value, and that 
service is the only thing that will satisfy and 
endure. 

Direct service to one's fellow men is the only 
truly enduring investment. To the extent that 
money is used in this way it will bring true happi- 
ness. Civilization will never be saved by either 
talk or money. Giving is a step in advance of 
talking, but no person will ever command the 
respect of the world until he goes a step farther 
and puts his words into action. Of all undeveloped 
resources, human souls and minds offer the great- 
est possibilities. Practical men are realizing that 
business is more than mere machinery and that 
prosperity really awaits the development and or- 
ganization of human beings. It is not enough to 
be religious, and let the matter rest there. We 
shall not find truly enduring investments unless we 
express our religion in our business and strive to 
bring happiness to all those dependent upon us 






METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 9 1 

for their daily bread. We must strive to help 
others to help themselves, and give their souls 
expression. 

ILL-GAINED PROFITS 

Profits secured from businesses which do not 
make people healthy, happy, or prosperous, are 
especially to be avoided. They ultimately will 
bring only harm to those who secure them. The 
brewer has a drunken son, the unprincipled law- 
yer has a wayward daughter, the business man who 
takes advantage of others ultimately dies in dis- 
appointment. The law of action and reaction 
works slowly, but never fails. Profits secured by 
helping others or developing the community en- 
dure and can prove a blessing to the man who 
makes them; but profits secured by illegitimate 
means or in a business which harms the commu- 
nity, ultimately fade away or prove a curse to the 
man who makes them. At least, this is what 
statistics clearly indicate. 

PROFITS THROUGH INVESTMENTS 

In considering the subject ''Enduring Invest- 
ments," we must not overlook the general feature 
of investing for profit. Thus far we have as- 



92 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

sumed that men have accumulated their money 
only through thrift and hard work. Statistics 
show that a large mount of wealth has been se- 
cured through fortunate investments. 

The business and financial world is governed 
by the great fundamental Law of Action and Re- 
action, — as inevitable and unvarying in its opera- 
tion as the Law of Gravitation. This same Ac- 
tion-Reaction causes the business world to travel 
in regular cycles, each consisting of the following 
periods : 

Period of Prosperity: High prices, high 
wages, increasing money rates, optimism, rabid 
speculation, over-expansion. 

Period of Decline: Falling prices, unem- 
ployment, pessimism, conservatism, and retrench- 
ment. 

Period of Depression: Low prices, low 
wages, hard times, failures, decreasing money 
rates, thrift, and economy. 

Period of Improvement: Gradually rising 
prices, demand for labor, increased production, 
business on the up-grade. 

Because these various periods follow each other 



METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 93 

in the same order and continue in this inevitable 
cycle, a constant and painstaking study of the com- 
bination of fundamental conditions which cause 
them enables some to forecast their coming with 
remarkable accuracy. 

GENERAL BASIS OF OPERATION 

Once these fundamental laws are recognized and 
understood, the basis of successful speculative 
operation is self-evident: 

Men buy securities in the Period of Depression 
when money is scarce, every one is panic-stricken, 
and fundamental conditions have forced prices far 
below their normal levels. These securities they 
hold through the Period of Improvement while 
prices rise and the public accumulates capital for 
the "Spree of Speculation" that always character- 
izes the ensuing period. 

These same men then sell during the Period of 
Prosperity when every one is optimistic and fun- 
damental conditions have forced prices far above 
their true and natural levels. They also hold 
their funds liquid through the Period of Decline 
when things are apparently going to pieces, and 



94 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

wait until fundamental conditions show that the 
low tide is about to be reached. They then buy 
in again and ride up to the crest. 

The same fundamental laws govern investment 
conditions as govern speculative conditions, al- 
though bonds fluctuate between much narrower 
limits than do stocks. The effect of fundamental 
conditions on the whole investment market is even 
studied by wise investors so as not to make the 
mistake of buying long time securities when one 
should be buying short time securities, and vice 
versa. 

Further, these men watch each individual issue 
in its relation to the Law of Action and Reaction. 
Since fundamental conditions are constantly un- 
dermining certain issues and strengthening others, 
the best results are secured only by studying con- 
ditions and transferring funds from weakening to 
strengthening issues. 

Some say that those who make profits in this 
way are mere speculators and add nothing to the 
permanent welfare of the country. If the safety 
valve and governor on a locomotive add nothing 
to the welfare of the passengers in the train, then 



METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 95 

the man who buys during the panic and sells dur- 
ing the boom adds nothing to the welfare of the 
community; but I should not want to ride on a 
train if the locomotive had no safety valve nor 
governor. Both safety valves and governors per- 
form most valuable work. 

SPECULATION LEGITIMATE 

No one respects the man who hangs around 
stock exchange offices and scalps quarters and 
eighths ; no, not even for the man who buys stocks 
this week and sells them next week or even the 
next month. I, however, have great respect for 
the man who sells securities and who stores money 
when securities are in great demand and money is 
plenty; likewise for the man who exchanges money 
for securities when the reverse conditions exist. 
He performs the important function that the ice 
dealer performs. He cuts ice and stores it when 
it is a nuisance and every one is trying to get rid 
of it; but by so doing he has it on hand during 
the warm days of summer when we all long for it. 

Here again, in accumulating money through in- 
vestments, it is necessary that we should keep the 



96 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

real end in view, — namely, the good of the com- 
munity, — and not become crazed over the de- 
sire for profits. Only those profits secured through 
investments which result in increased production 
or steadier conditions ever do a man or his fam- 
ily enduring good. As the Law of Action and Re- 
action applies to the investment market, so it 
also applies to our human lives. We receive en- 
during profits only in payment for service ren- 
dered. To have our investments endure, we must 
not only invest them in a way to render service, but 
we must secure them by rendering service. At 
least, this is what statistics show. 

THE NEED OF ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

This book is being written by one who has both 
had money and who has been closely associated 
with men of money. The last twenty years have 
been devoted by the writer to helping others se- 
cure and accumulate wealth. The Babson Or- 
ganization has probably been influential in the in- 
vestment of larger sums of money than any other 
institution of its kind in the world. Therefore, 
when I appeal to business men to side-step 



METHODS OF PILING UP PROFITS 97 

profits which do not make people truly happier, 
healthier, or more prosperous, it is with certain 
authority. 

When buying bonds, buy only those which are 
developing the resources of the country. It may 
be a municipal bond which is issued for building 
a sewer or water system; it may be a state bond 
issued for building roads; it may be a railroad 
bond issued for lowering grades and replacing 
wooden bridges by steel structures; it may be a 
public utility bond, enabling the company to fur- 
nish more homes with heat, water, or gas ; it may 
be an industrial bond, enabling some factory to 
increase its output. 

When buying stocks we should have a similar 
point of view and — in the same way — analyze the 
situation. With the purchase of stocks, however, 
there is an additional responsibility when the 
proxy is received. Proxies should never be thrown 
in the waste basket. Most of the crimes of our 
corporations have been due to the fact that the 
great majority of us people owning the stock either 
do not use the proxies or else sign simply what is 
sent to us without investigation. Most of our 



98 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

large industries are controlled by church people. 
Whenever these church people exercise their 
present rights, the abuses of these corporations 
can be abolished, peace with labor can be estab- 
lished and honesty can rule in the markets of the 
world. Hence, the stockholder has a far greater 
responsibility than the bondholder. There is no 
need of additional legislation to bring about fin- 
ancial, industrial, or social reforms. When the 
churches, educational institutions, and "religious" 
people who own these companies realize their re- 
sponsibilities, the evils will be eliminated. 

Therefore, readers are urged also to check up 
their investments as well as their profits. We all 
should take account of stock, so to speak, and see 
where our money goes as well as whence our 
money comes. Let us seek only enduring invest- 
ments, remembering that the most enduririg in- 
vestments of all are investments in human beings. 
It is good to loan money to a town to build sewer- 
age systems or to a railroad company to eliminate 
a dangerous curve; and it is even better to loan 
money to an industrious boy to secure an educa- 
tion, or to give money to missionary, educational, 



METHODS OF PILING UP PROFIT 99 

and other enterprises which are teaching the fun- 
damentals of righteousness. Investments in such 
institutions are really the most enduring of all 
investments. This is what Jesus must have had 
In mind when he advised against investing where 
moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break 
through and steal. 

Finally let none of us think that piling up money 
will give us security and protection. Courage is 
the only thing which helps us attain security. Se- 
curity is the most uncertain thing in life. It is 
one thing which can never be surely attained. If 
it were possible to obtain security, we would im- 
mediately have stagnation, and deterioration; and 
civilization would go to pieces. This applies both 
to life and to investments. Security is only a com- 
parative term. Some investments are more se- 
cure than others, depending on their endurance. 
Hence, the ablest financiers talk of enduring in- 
vestments rather than of secure investments. 



CHAPTER IX 
society's right to our wealth 

In the last analysis it is difficult to give anything 
to anybody else. It is perfectly simple, of course, 
to put your hand in your pocket and take out $10 
and give it to another man. After you have done 
this, he will have the money and you will not have 
it. Two considerations, however, throw doubt 
upon the question of your having given him any- 
thing. In the first place, most people who give 
away money to anybody else assume, whether they 
desire to or not, a degree of proprietorship in the 
life of the man to whom they have given the 
money. Even the best of us instinctively feels 
that the man to whom we have given money owes 
us something in conduct or in appreciation. 

In the second place, it is always extremely 
doubtful whether your $10 has made the man 
richer or poorer. If by giving $10, or $100, or 
$1,000 to somebody else, we could add $10 or 

100 



society's right to our WEALTH 10 1 

$100 or $ 1,000 to the real wealth of the one we 
give the money to, we would all be eager to give 
away money. The trouble is that gifts of all 
kinds are likely to impoverish the receiver. Emer- 
son summed the whole thing up when he said: 
"Thy only gift is a portion of thyself." History 
suggests that the early Christian Church learned 
this from sad experience and thus gave up the 
communistic plans referred to in a previous chap- 
ter. 

PROFITS THROUGH INVESTMENTS 

This indicates the fundamental difficulty which 
confronts the man who has gained sufficient for 
his own needs and desires to take care of the 
tide of wealth which is flowing in upon him. When 
I say "tide of wealth," I mean exactly that. In a 
normally successful business career, the first decade 
or two of a man's experience is expended in laying 
foundations, getting the machinery in place, and 
starting the wheels of wealth-making in motion. 
The trouble is that after this machinery has been 
put in place and set going, it is almost impossible 
to stop it. A man simply sits down in front of the 



102 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

spigot with his bucket and the stream of wealth 
pours into it. Many manufacturers have found 
themselves in danger of being swamped by the 
financial success of their own company. They 
had all they could use themselves. They had all 
their most extravagant desires could imagine and 
yet there was a stream of money pouring in upon 
them which represented the profits on every "sale" 
in all parts of the world. 

James Couzens, formerly General Manager of 
the Ford Motor Company, is reported to have 
received approximately $29,500,000 for 2180 
shares of stock said to have originally cost him 
$57,500. If this is so, every $100 which he in- 
vested in the Ford Motor Company returned him 
over $50,000. Of course, this is not a fair state- 
ment, as Mr. Couzens gave his life to the Com- 
pany, rendering service which no amount of money 
could fully repay. There are, moreover, numer- 
ous illustrations showing that even original invest- 
ors have made considerable sums without giving 
any time to the business. For instance : 

$100 invested in Burroughs Adding Machine 
returned $41,340. 



SOCIETY S RIGHT TO OUR WEALTH 103 

$100 invested in Welsbach Mantle returned 
$50,000. 

$100 invested in Westinghouse Air Brakes re- 
turned $47,856. 

$100 invested in Bell Telephone returned 
$201,000. 

$100 invested in Janney Coupler returned 
$18,680. 

$100 invested in National Cash Register re- 
turned $42,870. 

$100 invested in Duplex Rubber Tire returned 
$125,000. 

$100 invested in American Radiator returned 
$49,000. 

Any man, therefore, who is inclined to take life 
seriously and to regard himself as something more 
than a mere peg to hang riches upon, is confronted 
by the question of what he is going to do with this 
stream of riches when once he gets it started. He 
is confronted also by the dilemma of devising 
some rational and really beneficial means of tak- 
ing care of it. It is not enough simply to get away 
or to stand and let the stream spill Itself upon 
the ground. 



104 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

We may, however, take it for granted that any 
honestly constructed and really useful money- 
making machine, when once it is started, ought not 
to be stopped. Such a machine is making a vital 
contribution to the wealth of the community. It 
is a social crime to put a stop to such productive 
power. The man who has started it, therefore, 
must devise some way to save his own soul and 
at the same time keep the machine going. 

TWO BIG PROBLEMS 

Two big problems are forced upon the man 
who started the machine. One is that of saving 
his own soul and the other is that of discharging 
his duty to the community. The two go hand in 
hand. If the man fancies that because he has 
enough for himself he has, therefore, earned the 
right to go off in a corner and enjoy it, he has dis- 
regarded not only the interests of the community, 
but the interests of his own life. There may come 
a time in the career of an active man when he 
can honestly and rightfully sever his connections 
with life and go off somewhere to spend the re- 
mainder of his days in satisfaction. That is a 



SOCIETY'S RIGHT TO OUR WEALTH IO5 

question which may be raised. For the most part, 
however, a man's duty is to be found in so direct- 
ing the results of his own wealth-making machine 
and so relating himself to the community where 
he lives, that his plant and the wealth which comes 
to him may be a true and enduring investment, 
both for himself and for the community. 

However important the man himself may be, 
he would never have been able to start his ma- 
chine and the wealth would never have begun to 
come in if it had not been for the community. The 
community has thus made him and it is his duty to 
do what he can to aid and benefit the community. 
After all, there is no duty which so vitally rests 
upon the shoulders of every man as the duty of 
bearing his part in the community. 

It is clear, therefore, that the duty of continuing 
in business and devoting oneself to business ac- 
tivity rests upon a man even more heavily after 
he has made his pile than before. When he was 
making his pile, he was working for himself. Sel- 
fish interests alone may have been dominant in 
his mind. Now that he has made his pile, it may 
be possible for him to justify his own selfishness 



106 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

by consecrating the very powers and capacities 
which enabled him to become rich in his own right 
to the enrichment of the community. 

MORE RICH MEN NEEDED 

The man who stands at forty or fifty in a po- 
sition of independent wealth, which has come 
to him through productive enterprise, must give 
up the idea of simply turning over his profits to 
the community. That alone will not be sufficient. 
He must regard himself more than ever as the 
servant of the community which has given him 
his success. The best work and the finest portion 
of a man's life may be those years after forty or 
fifty when he can divest himself absolutely of sel- 
fish aims and consecrate the remainder of his ac- 
tive years to the task of producing wealth for the 
community and rendering real service to the men 
and women who have consciously or unconsciously 
helped to make him what he is. Any man who has 
hammered out financial success for himself is 
worth more per year himself to the community 
than the profits which come from his business are 
worth. It is, therefore, such a man's duty to de- 



society's right to our wealth 107 

vote himself with all possible energy to the ser- 
vice of society. 

Society wants and has a right to ask of the 
successful business man not only his profits, but 
his time. The most valuable thing about such a 
man is not the stream he has set running, but the 
powers that he himself has. It is these powers 
that the community really needs. By making him- 
self rich, the man has set himself free from sel- 
fish ends and made himself available to society. 
To meet this obligation — to embrace the oppor- 
tunity — is the great test of the man himself. 

INVESTING FOR ETERNITY 

Of course, the stream of profits will continue. 
How they shall be disposed of is another ques- 
tion. The important thing is so to dispose of 
them that they will endure over a long, long per- 
iod, and if possible, through eternity. All men 
must admit that the length of life of investments 
varies from those that endure only a few minutes 
to those that endure many years and even genera- 
tions. Furthermore, it must be admitted that 
money invested in character building, scientific in- 



108 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

vestigations, and certain educational work, en- 
dures forever. The building of a hospital is a 
far better investment than the building of a fac- 
tory, although the latter may be commendable. 
But a study which leads to the elimination of dis- 
eases is even a better investment, while, the work 
of those who arouse the souls of men to conduct 
such studies, comes from even more enduring in- 
vestments. 

Of course, winning souls to Jesus would be the 
most enduring investment of all procurable. It 
would be the most satisfying and the most profit- 
able. Moreover, in saying this I am speaking as 
a statistician and not as a preacher. 



CHAPTER X 

PROFIT SHARING VERSUS BENEVOLENCES 

The rich man's supreme duty is to keep in mo- 
tion the machine by which he has made his wealth. 
This involves a continuation of the flow of profits. 
What is the man to do with these profits? 

There are two main avenues which afford a way 
to dispose of one's profits other than when in- 
vested in the worthy objects already noted. A 
man may devote them to benevolences of various 
kinds or he may distribute them among his em- 
ployees in accordance with some of the well-known 
forms of profit sharing. Let us look for a mo- 
ment at these two methods. 

PUBLIC CHARITIES 

The favorite method of disposing of wealth, 

either at one's death or during one's lifetime, is 

to bestow it in considerable sums upon some 

enterprise of a public interest. Mr. Carnegie was 

109 



HO ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

a conspicuous example of this kind of activity. 
Every day the newspapers tell us of some rich 
man or woman whose will is offered for probate 
and lists the various enterprises which are pro- 
vided for in the will. So far as the man himself 
is concerned, there is much to be said in favor of 
doing this kind of thing during life instead of post- 
poning it until after death and leaving money per- 
haps to be squabbled over in the courts. The per- 
sonal satisfaction which must come to a man of 
seeing the things he wants done accomplished while 
he is himself still alive is well worth considering. 
The whole matter of the endowment of chari- 
ties and other public enterprises is, however, open 
to serious question. Whose money is this anyway? 
To how much is a man entitled under the caption 
of his own personal fortune ? Unless I am greatly 
mistaken, the fundamental conception which un- 
derlies all this discussion is this : Is the wealth 
which comes to man his, or is it a trust fund? If it 
belongs in fact to society, what right, therefore, 
has the man himself to determine for all time the 
method by which society shall use this money? 
We have at the present time billions of dollars 



PROFIT SHARING VERSUS BENEVOLENCES 1 1 1 

tied up in the endowment of libraries, hospitals, 
schools, and things of that kind. This money all 
came from streams of wealth which various men 
and women set going. Acting within what they 
considered to be their own rights, they definitely 
tied up these billions of dollars to specific projects 
in which they themselves were interested. 

It sometimes happens with the lapse of years 
that the causes to which these men have devoted 
their funds ceased to be of great concern to the 
community. Notwithstanding, as long as society 
stands, the funds which these men have set aside 
will go on supporting these worn-out and dis- 
credited institutions. People are beginning to ask 
with considerable insistence what inherent right 
our rich men have to determine forever the uses 
of their wealth. If this wealth is in fact not their 
own, but is a fund which they hold in trust for 
society, their right to tie money up in this way is 
open to serious question. 

Many able minds do not favor this time-honored 
method of disposing of wealth through the en- 
dowment of institutions. The method presup- 
poses a keenness of judgment as to what are the 



112 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

vital needs for society, which keenness most men 
may be supposed not to possess. It also takes for 
granted a degree of ownership in the man's sur- 
plus wealth which may be seriously questioned. 

REFUNDS AND PROFIT SHARING 

There remains the method of distributing these 
surplus funds among one's customers through 
some one of various methods. At the outset it is 
to be said in favor of this proposition that it im- 
mediately restores the funds in question to so- 
ciety instead of freezing up vast fortunes and for- 
ever determining the uses to which they should be 
put. These fortunes, if distributed year by year, 
remain fluid and pass again into the hands of the 
individuals who compose society. Many may at 
times make bad use of the money. That, however, 
seems to be their right. No man can under- 
take to guarantee posterity from mistakes. The 
same right to say what shall be done with one's 
money belongs to the man who comes after me as 
I claim in the handling of the funds which pass 
through my hands. This right may be best recog- 



PROFIT SHARING VERSUS BENEVOLENCES II3 

nized by turning the profits back into the stream 
from which they came. 

When it comes to the distribution of surplus 
earnings among one's employees, one confronts 
on one side a danger and on the other an ad- 
vantage. The danger is that the money thus 
distributed will be looked upon as a mere gra- 
tuity. Money passed around in this way may be a 
positive menace to those who receive it. Any kind 
of a hand-out, whether it is a sandwich and a 
bowl of soup, to a man who stands in the bread- 
line, or an outright gift of funds without any 
quid pro quo concerned, impoverishes the man 
who receives it. 

GIFTS VERSUS DEBTS 

On the other hand, the advantage of distribut- 
ing profits to one's employees is that this distribu- 
tion may be made to take the form of a reward 
for exceptional merit. In this sense the money 
so distributed ceases to be a gift and becomes 
part of the earnings of the individual thus fur- 
nishing an incentive to him for greater effort. In 



114 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

every successful business, there are, to say the 
least, individuals whose loyalty, initiative, and am- 
bition determine the progress and expansion of the 
business. These individuals, in only a slightly less 
degree than the owner of the business, are the 
foundations upon which the success of the busi- 
ness stands. With certain limitations, no price 
is too great to reward these individuals for their 
constructive qualities. 

We have been experimenting in this country for 
nearly two generations with so-called "profit-shar- 
ing." Probably more systems have been aban- 
doned than are now in opertion. Out of the whole 
experience, however, we have learned that there 
are certain forms of profit sharing which have a 
really vital relation to the success or the business. 
Any form of profit sharing which really divides 
profits between the employer and his responsible 
employees can be defended not only on business 
principles, but on the basis of developing those 
who receive it. Money so distributed is not a 
gift ; it is earned. When the employer distributes 
his profits in this way, he recognizes the debt which 
he owes for his own success to those who have 
stood with him in building it up. 



PROFIT SHARING VERSUS BENEVOLENCES 115 

Beyond this there is another debt which the 
rich man, by the distribution of his profits, may 
be able to discharge. The relation of the em- 
ployee who work for wages to business and to 
society is fundamentally different from that of 
the man who works for profits or of the respon- 
sible employee who is directly concerned with 
the progress of the business. Equally with the 
employer and with the responsible employee, these 
thousands of lesser workers are putting their life 
into their labor. Their life is their capital. Often 
the wages for which they work do not allow the 
accumulation of funds to take care of their old 
age. 

Still, in any well ordered society, it should be 
taken for granted that a life of industry, however 
humble the level upon which it is lived, should se- 
cure to the worker some kind of reasonable com- 
fort in his declining years. The distribution of 
profits to take care of this situation may again 
be classed as the paying of a debt rather than 
as the distribution of a gratuity. The humblest 
employee who, through long years of service, 
has contributed his mite to the success of the busi- 
ness may be entitled to something over and above 



Il6 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

what he or she may have received as wages. This 
equity is often ignored; in fact, it is customarily 
ignored. One of the greatest opportunities which 
an employer has, in my conception, is the dis- 
charge of this often neglected obligation. 

WHAT ABOUT THE RESIDUE 

When all of this has been done, however, there 
still remains in the employer's hands a consider- 
able amount of profits which he does not need 
himself, which cannot be distributed among his 
employees as a reward for services actually ren- 
dered, and of which the employer must find some 
way of disposing. Of course, such a man will be- 
come a large supporter toward the current ex- 
penses of such reasonable charities as may be pre- 
sented to him. For the further remainder of the 
funds which he wishes to distribute, I earnestly 
advocate the use of such moneys for the develop- 
ment and encouragement of enterprises which pre- 
sent the largest amount of enduring usefulness 
and which give employment and satisfaction to the 
greatest number of people. 

The one thing to be avoided is the creation of 



PROFIT SHARING VERSUS BENEVOLENCES 117 

dead funds. A dollar which merely stays on the 
shelf from year to year and through all time con- 
tributes its yearly earnings to the support of some 
charitable purpose may become, in fact, a dead 
dollar. That same dollar, if set in motion by a 
rich man, preferably in some enterprise which 
immediately gives employment to hundreds and 
thousands of workers, is a live dollar. We have 
already too much money in the United States 
which hangs like a weight about the neck of so- 
ciety and is just as dead as, in many cases, is the 
memory of the man who originally hung it up. A 
rich man should study this situation with the 
greatest care. Such wisdom as he has been en- 
dowed with should be applied conscientiously to 
ithe effort to keep his funds liquid in the social 
sense. 

The upshot of these statements is this : Let the 
emphasis of our distribution be placed upon the 
side of earnings rather than upon the side of gifts. 
Insist so far as possible that what we distribute 
shall be distributed for some recognized service. 
Furthermore, when it comes to benevolences, make 
sure as far as possible that these shall be construe- 



Il8 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

tive benevolences; — benevolences which supply 
employment and incentive to the greatest number 
of people rather than those which merely dis- 
tribute sops to a promiscuous crowd. 

We can never free ourselves entirely from the 
mere giving away of money, but the emphasis of 
our benevolences can be placed upon such handling 
of money as will reward efficiency wherever it is 
found, and will keep such money as passes through 
our hands active. Thus we may recognize to the 
fullest degree the idea that we are stewards, — 
trustees, — and not owners of the money which 
passes through our hands. Only as we get this 
point of view can we enjoy the most enduring of 
investments. 









CHAPTER XI 

WHAT SHALL WE DO? 

The question of enduring investments is not 
altruistic. It is rather the problem of getting the 
most out of this old world which we go through 
but once. We know from experience, that the 
greatest happiness and reward in life cbme from 
doing the greatest service for others. It is hard 
to understand how any one can feel puffed up 
over the fact that he has given the town a public 
library or a hospital, because he himself knows 
that the satisfaction which he gets from doing this 
amply repays him for the gift. 

FOUR ROADS TO FOLLOW 

Generosity is commendable, but generosity in 

itself is not the end. It is simply the method. 

The goal of life is service in carrying out God's 

wishes. It remains for each one of us to decide 

for himself what means he will use. No set 

formula can be prescribed to fit all cases. As 

119 



120 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

previously stated, the successful man who has al- 
ready sufficient for his own needs, has four courses 
to choose from : 

1. Run his business as before, but turn over the 
profits to his employees. 

2. Reduce the selling prices of his product so 
the public gets the benefit of the profit. 

3. Devote his profits to expanding his own or 
some other worthy enterprise. 

4. Give his profits to charitable and educational 
work. 

All of these courses have good points, but all 
of them if pursued exclusively would fail to accom- 
plish the desired end. My own feeling is that a 
combination of all will make the best course. 
Take the first plan, for example. There is de- 
cidedly a limit to the pay which one can give one's 
employees with real profit to themselves. Sudden 
or unusual prosperity without the balance wheel 
of spirtual ideals, invariably will do a man more 
harm than good. A fair plan of profit sharing, 
or bonus distribution, which will stimulate each 
worker to give his best efforts and help him to 
support his family in a decent manner, is far 
healthier for both the worker and the business. 






WHAT SHALL WE DO? 121 

To cut selling prices to a cost basis may be all 
right if you are the only one in your line of busi- 
ness. If not, however, it would be unfair to 
smaller manufacturers or merchants who cannot 
yet afford to run their business without profit. 
Make sure that you are giving a good product 
at a price which is fair to the consumer and you 
have gone about as far as you can in this direc- 
tion. 

The third course is the one most commonly 
followed. I am not ready to find fault with it, 
at least as far as the principles involved are con- 
cerned. There is this trouble, however, that the 
man who uses all his profits to build more busi- 
ness, often loses the true perspective of life. The 
constant fight with harassing obstacles, together 
with the fact that business success is measured 
in terms of things and dollars, whets men's ap- 
petites for material rather than spiritual things. 
While to run an honest and productive business 
is one of the noblest achievements, it does not 
develop the spiritual side of men if followed ex- 
clusively. 

How about the fourth course — namely, to give 
away profits for charitable or educational work? 



122 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

There is more responsibility in giving away money 
than there is in spending it. You can do more 
damage to others through misguided charity than 
through selfish extravagance. On the other hand, 
if the cause is worth while, there is nothing which 
so develops the spiritual side of a man as whole- 
hearted unselfish giving. The man who leaves 
pure charity out of his life misses a tremendous 
lot of fun. God made this old world on peculiar 
plans. One of these plans is that while He put 
into the hands of men almost everything they 
want, He asks that we turn back or dedicate a 
certain part of it distinctly to Him. Why? The 
reason is simple if we will but look and see how 
much happier and fuller is the life of the man 
who gives than of the one who does not. 

INVESTING FOR ETERNITY 

For this reason isn't it true that we should give 
more attention to our investments, if they are to 
be made for eternity, in order that we may make 
them wisely? Unfortunately most of us seem to 
feel that the minute we give our money away our 
responsibility is ended and we depart feeling 



WHAT SHALL WE DO? 1 23 

proud of ourselves for having made a present of 
something to God. No, Sir! We cannot afford 
to make poor investments for God any more than 
we can for ourselves ! In fact, I believe the time 
will come when we shall look upon the things we 
gave to God as the prime investments which we 
have made. 

No one can prescribe in a book what causes 
are most worth-while, as they change from month 
to month. There is one thing, however, of which 
we can be sure. The crying need of this hour 
is not more factories or materials, not more rail- 
roads or steamships, not more armies or more 
navies, but rather more religious education. The 
prosperity of our country depends on the motives 
and purposes of the people. These motives and 
purposes are directed in the right course only 
through religion. Legislation, bounties, force, are 
of no avail in determining a man's attitude toward 
life. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

Religion, like everything else of value, must 
be taught. It is possible to get more religion in 



124 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

industry and business only through the develop- 
ment of religious education. With the forces of 
evil backed by men and money, systematically or- 
ganized to destroy, we should back with men and 
money campaigns for religious education. 

We are willing to give our property and even 
our lives when our country calls us in time of 
war. Yet the call of religious education is to-day 
of even greater importance than was ever the call 
of the army or navy. This is true because we may 
never live to see America attacked from without, 
but we may at any time see our best institutions 
attacked from within. 

I am not offering religious education as a pro- 
tector of property because nearly all of the great 
progressive and liberal movements of history have 
been born in the heart of religious educators. 
It however is a fact that the safety of our sons and 
daughters, as they go out on the streets this very 
night, is due to the influence of the priests, rabbis, 
and preachers rather than to the influence of the 
policemen, officials, and lawmakers. Yes, the 
safety of our nation, including all groups, depends 
on religious education. Furthermore, at no time 
in our history has it been more greatly needed. 



WHAT SHALL WE DO? 1 25 

We insure our homes and factories, our auto- 
mobiles and our business establishments through 
mutual and stock insurance companies. But the 
same amount of money invested in religious edu- 
cation would give far greater results. Besides, 
religious education can insure what no corporation 
can insure; namely, prosperity. Statistics show 
that while the people of the United States are 
paying nearly $1,000,000,000 a year for life in- 
surance, they are paying less than $400,000,000 
a year for the total expenses of our churches, in- 
cluding all religious activities both at home and in 
foreign lands. Just think of it ! We are willing 
to pay only 40 per cent, as much for soul insur- 
ance as we are for money insurance. 

THE NEED OF THE HOUR 

As the great life insurance companies are spend- 
ing huge sums on doctors, scientific investigations, 
and district nurses to improve the health of the 
nation, so we business men should spend huge sums 
to develop those fundamental religious qualities 
of integrity, industry, faith, and service, which 
make for true prosperity. Surely the need of 
the hour is not more factories or materials, not 



126 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

more railroads or steamships, not more armies 
or navies — but rather more religious education ! 

This book has referred heretofore to the men 
or women who already have all the money they 
need. Don't think for a minute, however, that 
they are the only ones who should give. Few in- 
deed are too poor to give something to what they 
believe is God's work. I have known a great many 
u tithers," but I have yet to find one who felt he 
had lost anything by dedicating a definite part of 
his income to God. To every one — rich and poor 
— the statement of the Wise Man regarding 
"bread on the waters" has a very real application 
in this matter. 

Let's think for a moment what would happen 
if every church member in the United States 
should actually do as the Bible suggests and set 
aside one-tenth of his income for God. There 
are about 40,000,000 members in our Christian 
churches, with about $40,000,000,000 total an- 
nual income. Calculate the tremendous power 
summed up in one-tenth of that amount — $4,000,- 
000,000. Spent honestly and wisely such a sum 
would establish all the additional schools neces- 



WHAT SHALL WE DO ? 127 

sary to fit our young men and women for a re- 
ligious life. It would operate all the hospitals 
and training schools needed to treat all those who 
must go through life with physical handicaps. It 
would furnish sufficient money in a few years' 
time to teach every living soul the principles of 
righteousness. 

SPENDING $4,000,000,000 A YEAR 

Would this money be spent wisely? — you may 
ask. No, it would not, if each church member 
simply sent his check or money order to some 
central committee and left it to a few people to 
spend. But if each giver took the same care in 
investing money for God that he takes in invest- 
ing it for himself — then I say most of this money 
would he spent wisely. Surely it would accom- 
plish more and more good every year as we in- 
vestors became wiser. 

After all, I am less interested in what could 
be done with this $4,000,000,000 than I am in the 
effect which giving one-tenth of his income would 
have upon each of us 40,000,000 givers. "Where 
your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 



128 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

Just shut your eyes and try to imagine what kind 
of a country this would be if our church members 
should really take the Bible seriously enough to 
follow it even in this one suggestion. 

Now you and I know that we probably shall 
not live long enough to see all our good church 
people change their ways so radically. The point 
is, what are we going to do ourselves? Maybe 
it's 10 per cent, of our income we ought to invest 
for God — maybe much more — but surely we all 
ought to invest in this way more than we are now 
investing. We ought surely to use as much dis- 
cretion and pains in making such investments as 
we do when we make our less enduring invest- 
ments. 

Perhaps the above suggestions sound imprac- 
tical. The average business man who has won 
success and independence has done it only through 
the hardest work. The thought of turning around 
and dispensing with the further profits which his 
labors may bring at first seems ridiculous. What, 
however, is the prime purpose of life? "What 
shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world 
and lose his own soul?" This is the problem 



WHAT SHALL WE DO? 1 29 

which has beaten more men than adversity. Shall 
we escape the poison of lust and the mania of 
accumulation which has shriveled the souls of so 
many men before us? 



CHAPTER XII 

DEVELOPING A PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 

Statistics show that the industrial life of 
America was launched in Quebec, New England, 
New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- 
ginia, and that groups of religious enthusiasts — 
both Protestant and Catholic — provided the 
motive power which developed Canada and the 
United States. America industrially and commer- 
cially was born and raised in the white spired 
churches on the village greens and in the little red 
school houses at the country cross roads. 

These early settlers came here to worship God 
and to bring up their children in a way which 
should cause their families to endure. They 
wanted freedom, but not the freedom about which 
we hear to-day. They wanted freedom to wor- 
ship God. Hence, the first public structures 
erected by these people after landing upon the 

shores of America were churches, and these be- 

130 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 13I 

came the civic and social centers. Men went to 
church to pray and to vote. Our government was 
founded on religion; our industries were founded 
on religion. Yes, religion became the spring of 
the watch; the fertility of the egg; the inspiration 
which caused men to produce, to save, and to 
develop the enduring investments for which these 
old settlements became famous. 

The other day I came across an old New Eng- 
land newspaper. Of what was it made up? Were 
the chief items of interest divorce, scandals, and 
prize fights? Not much. The paper was almost 
wholly devoted to reporting ( 1 ) the teachings of 
1 the churches and their preachers; (2) the prog- 
ress of the government; and (3) the important 
events in England and Europe. 

Every morning each household got together in 
family prayers, asking God for strength and guid- 
ance in the day's work; each evening they met 
again and thanked God for the protection and 
success of the day. Each Sunday was spent — not 
in pleasure seeking — but in truth seeking, getting 
inspiration for the coming week's work. Before 
the farmers planted their seed they had an entire 



132 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

day of fasting and prayer (which day was a legal 
holiday in Massachusetts until a few years ago) ; 
while after the crops were gathered they had a 
day of Thanksgiving to God for the harvest He 
had given them. These are cold economic facts 
which must be realized when we sanely discuss 
enduring investments. 

what's the matter with business? 

Statistics show the difficulty with business to 
be that we have been trying to run industry by the 
will of Congress, judges, bankers, labor unions, 
and boards of directors rather than by the will of 
God. We have been trying to make cork sink, 
stone float, water run up hill, and prices remain 
fixed when these things should not be accom- 
plished. Business men believe in the law of sup- 
ply and demand, but most of us want the law 
suspended so far as it applies to our particular 
business. The farmer seeks lower priced labor, 
but wants a higher price for his wheat and 
corn; the railroads work for lower prices for 
materials, and yet want to keep the cost of trans- 
portation fixed; while the labor leaders clamor 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 33 

for a reduction of the cost of living and at the 
same time fight all wage reductions. 

As a result business — every few years — gets 
stalled like the donkey between the hay stack and 
the bag of oats. The donkey was so undecided 
as to which to eat that he stood midway between 
the two and starved to death. Take the railroads, 
for instance, perhaps they would be better off 
with higher rates. Surely, however, the railroads 
should not continue to play the part of the donkey 
when great numbers of freight cars are idle. They 
should either raise rates or lower rates or do 
something to see if conditions could not be im- 
proved. This idea of arguing about rates in ad- 
vance without a trial is a good deal like arguing 
as to the winner in a horse race before the race 
occurs. One of the best barometers of prosperity 
is the freight car "surplus" or "shortage" figures. 
One of the quickest ways to make our investments 
endure is to keep our railroads at work. 

BUSINESS IS LIKE AN AUTOMOBILE 

Business, like an automobile, now and then sud- 
denly stops by the gasoline giving out and we 



134 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

are obliged to clean out the tank and refill it with 
gasoline. When the car stops we are running in 
high gear and we usually forget to change the 
gears. But in starting the car again, is it advis- 
able to attempt to start on high gear or is it bet- 
ter to put the car first into low gear? Surely, the 
sensible way is to start on low, move to second, 
and then into high. Any automobile driver knows 
that this last is the thing to do. Attempting to 
start on high will inevitably stall the engine. 

Yet we are continually trying to start business 
on "high" just where it stopped. During a busi- 
ness depression, the railroads want to get traffic 
back at the old high rates; labor refuses to have 
wages cut; while retailers hold up prices "until 
business revives." The result is that prosperity 
does not return when it is expected. There can 
be no enduring prosperity with this attitude. With 
railroad rates up, wages up, and everything else 
up, it is impossible to start the automobile of 
prosperity on high gear without stalling the en- 
gine. If, however, the railroads would reduce 
rates, wage workers reduce wages, and retailers 
reduce prices until the hundreds of thousands of 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 35 

freight cars got filled and moving, then we could 
get started. Then the railroads could gradually 
put back their rates, the wage workers could in- 
crease their wages, and so on along the line, mov- 
ing gradually from low gear into second and from 
second into high. Then the automobile of pros- 
perity would soon again be going at full speed 
without danger of stalling the engine. Enduring 
prosperity can be approached only by shortening 
the business cycles and by making the fluctuations 
less severe. As our prosperity is more enduring 
so are our investments. 

IF LABOR IS WEALTH 

If labor is the basis of all wealth, the country 
surely ought to be very rich during a business 
depression. Then there is much surplus labor 
available. Millions of persons are then idle be- 
cause they are determined to start the automobile 
of prosperity on high speed without first going 
into low and second. It never could be done and 
it never can be done. We only waste time arguing 
about it and trying it out. Labor is not the basis 
•of wealth nor are our natural resources the basis 



136 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

of wealth. There are more available labor and 
more of natural resources in China than in the 
United States. But why then is China way behind 
the United States ? The reason is that China lacks 
those intangible qualities of faith, courage, initia- 
tive, and inspiration which have built up American 
business. 

The truth is that we are now trying to have 
llegislation, banking, labor unions and other ma- 
terial forces take the place of the spiritual forces 
which have really developed America. This is 
why new railroads are not built ; this is why there 
is a shortage in houses; and this is why there is 
unemployment. Enduring prosperity and endur- 
ing investments come from three factors : ( 1 ) nat- 
ural resources, (2) labor, and (3) that intangible 
spiritual quality which led the Pilgrims to these 
shores three hundred years ago, which stretched 
the railroads across the prairies a hundred years 
ago, and which built factories, steamships and 
other things during the past decade. Moreover, 
these spiritual qualities can be developed only 
through the natural means which God devised. 

America should not return to the policy which 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 37 

rules the jungle, but it should most seriously con- 
sider the policies which have developed successful 
breeding of men and women up to the present 
time. Aristocracy was overdone a century or more 
ago, but it still has its uses. We can breed a more 
enduring prosperity, but we can't do it by attempt- 
ing to suspend the law of supply and demand, the 
law of reward and punishment, the law of action 
and reaction, and other natural laws. At the 
present time we are developing a race of ineffi- 
cients and almost industrial imbeciles. Unless a 
halt is called and we get back to the old-fashioned 
principle of selecting the fittest, using it in its 
broadest, most spiritual sense, we are headed for 
disaster. 

PROSPERITY THE RESULT OF EFFORT 

I have a friend in one of the eastern colleges 
who actually hungers for hard problems. He 
cannot be tempted by money and he is never in- 
terested in anything which is easy. When, how- 
ever, I have a truly difficult task he is delighted 
to work it out for me. He has the spirit which 
discovered America, developed America, and has 



138 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

brought about the prosperity which our country 
has heretofore enjoyed. He has that creative im- 
pulse or that desire for service which is at the 
basis of prosperity. When 5 1 per cent, of the peo- 
ple are imbued with this spirit of service, we have 
good business ; but when 5 1 per cent, of the people 
are trying to do as little as they can and "get away 
with it," then high prices, inefficiency, and bad 
business are inevitable. 

Prosperity is simply a combination of natural 
resources, hard work, and those intangible 
spiritual qualities of faith, courage, and a desire 
to be of service. These qualities, however, have 
been developed in the past only through struggle 
and competition. Moreover, prosperity endures 
in proportion to the spirituality in its fiber and 
composition. These spiritual qualities are not 
being developed to-day with legislation, trade as- 
sociations, labor unions, and other forces attempt- 
ing to eliminate struggle, industry, thrift, and the 
workings of natural law. 

A DOLLAR FOR A DOLLAR 

One reason for unemployment and general bad 
business is the fact that — during periods of pros- 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 139 

perity — so few people give a dollar's value for the 
dollar which they receive. Unconsciously we then 
all become dishonest. The grocer no longer 
adulterates the sugar; but he and we adulterate 
our work. The farmer no longer puts good apples 
only at the top of the barrel; but the same prin- 
ciple of deception then permeates other lines of 
labor, industry, and commerce. We then try to 
get along by our wits and by bluffing rather than 
by hard work. The congressmen jolly their con- 
stituents; the department heads in Washington 
jolly the congressmen; the government employees 
jolly the department heads; the business men jolly 
the government employees, and the constituents 
in turn jolly the business man. Thus the vicious 
circle goes around, each trying to live by his wits 
and fool the other, all forgetting that the pros- 
perity of the country is determined by industry, 
thrift and integrity. When we all, whether wage 
workers or employers, manufacturers or mer- 
chants, senators or mere human beings, are again 
imbued with the spirit of service, then we have 
prosperity. Moreover, to the extent that our lives 
are so imbued, this prosperity endures. 

There often is much talk about foreign trade. 



140 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

The figures, however, show how the foreign trade 
of the United States is a very varying quantity. 
Numerous reasons are given for these violent 
fluctuations, but the most potent reason is that our 
foreign customers get disgusted with us about once 
in so often. During the war they were forced to 
pay any price in order to keep the Germans from 
annihilating them; but as soon as this fear was 
over they decided to get on without the goods 
until they could get them at a fair price. When 
we give a dollar's worth of goods and labor for a 
dollar, we again begin to get back our foreign 
trade. If we would always give a dollar's worth 
of goods for a dollar, we could permanently have 
a good and ever increasing foreign trade. En- 
during prosperity requires such a constant outlet 
for our surplus goods. 

ENDURING VERSUS TEMPORARY BANKING 

The development of a nation is similar to the 
development of an individual, best exemplified by 
the life of a primitive man in a primitive commu- 
nity. As a youth he is interested only in having a 
good time. He fishes and shoots for the sport of 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 141 

it. Work has no attractions at all and the boy 
lives simply to get a few hours' play each day. 
As he becomes older and has a family of his own 
he becomes interested in working to get food, 
clothing, and shelter. With the incentive of a 
family he is truly interested in his work. He 
enjoys catching fish to eat; he enjoys building a 
hut in which to live; and he enjoys shearing the 
sheep in order that his wife may weave the wool 
into clothing. 

As the children begin to grow up, however, the 
aims of the wise father even in primitive days 
were of a more enduring nature than were the 
aims of young manhood. He was no longer in- 
terested — when he became a grandfather — merely 
in providing the food, clothing and shelter which 
was consumed during the year; but he laid plans 
to perpetuate his family. As a man becomes older 
he unconsciously looks ahead and devises means 
to provide that he and his family shall have food, 
clothing, and shelter after they reach the age when 
they can no longer work. The first third of a 
man's life is given to play* the second third to 
filling his and his family's stomachs; but the last 



142 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

third is given to developing sources of income 
which will be permanent and serve him after the 
natural resources are gone. 

A nation goes through these same three stages. 
The first stage for America was during the Revo- 
lutionary and Colonial times; the second stage 
began with the developing of our great West when 
the Homestead Laws provided the incentive for 
that development; but we are now entering the 
third stage when we unconsciously seek protection. 
The railroads are seeking protection through legis- 
lation; the wage workers are seeking protection 
♦through their labor unions; manufacturers are 
seeking protection through tariff laws; while the 
rest of us are seeking protection by trying to sus- 
pend the workings of the law of supply and 
demand. 

Like primitive man, we may now be justified 
in directing our energies to perpetuating our posi- 
tion rather than to creating new positions ; but even 
so we should go at it in the right way. The primi- 
tive man did not attempt to perpetuate his income 
by legislation or fictitious agreements of any kind. 
He did so by systematically setting aside a larger 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 43 

proportion of his earnings each year for perma- 
nent improvements. Each year he spent a smaller 
proportion on his stomach and clothing and more 
labor on houses, barns, felling his forests, de- 
veloping the power of the little stream running 
through the farm, and stocking the farm with cat- 
tle, pigs and fowl. This is the way to develop 
enduring prosperity and enduring investments. 

MORE INFORMATION NEEDED 

The government departments in Washington 
are doing a great many good things, but they could 
give us more information as to the condition of 
different lines of industry, the amount of goods 
on hand and in the process of manufacture, and 
how the money of the nation is being spent. For 
instance, the Federal Reserve Board publishes the 
so-called "Bank Clearings" of the country, but no 
subdivision is made as to industries. Hence, when 
the bank clearings show that business is declining 
we don't know in what industries the decline has 
taken place. Suddenly the country is astounded 
by a surplus or shortage of a certain commodity. 
With advance information preparation could be 



144 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

made to avoid the catastrophe or at least to pro- 
vide a substitute for the commodity. The sugar 
episode following the war could have been easily 
avoided had the government collected and pub- 
lished monthly figures on the sugar available. 

A great opportunity exists in the publication and 
classification of bank loans. Such a classification 
would show what percentage of our credit is being 
used for the production of goods, what percent- 
age is being used for the storage of goods, and 
what percentage is being used for the marketing 
of goods. It would also be interesting to see 
whether more money is being loaned for the manu- 
facture of fashionable adornments or for the 
manufacture of useful labor saving devices. The 
government cannot make people good, but it can 
supply data which, when a sensible man reads, will 
cause him of himself to determine to be good. 

Herbert Hoover has said in this connection : 

"Viewing the disastrous phenomena of booms 
and slumps in the light of what the government 
can. properly do, there has been a great under- 
estimation as to the potential importance to com- 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 45 

merce and industry of an adequate service of 
statistics. The stability and soundness of business 
can be greatly enhanced and that vicious specula- 
tion can be curtailed by a more adequate informa- 
tion service maintained by the government. 

"We should have more timely, more regular, 
and more complete information of the current pro- 
duction and consumption and stocks of every great 
commodity in the United States. We should go 
even further than this ; that we should secure and 
publish the proportion of the total equipment of 
more important industries, that is, in current pro- 
duction, together with the total proportion of 
labor complement that is in service ; and that in a 
few commodities it may be well to procure and 
publish the primary prices. 

"If, for instance, in 1920 the public had realized 
that our stocks of coal on the surface were prob- 
ably above normal, that at the time they were 
bidding for coal at $15 per ton, the actual realiza- 
tion at the mine was probably less than $4.00; 
if they had been aware that the limitation of sup- 
ply was due to railway difficulties which would be 
solved with a little patience ; then I am convinced 



146 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

that many sensible people would have stayed out 
of the coal market, and that we should have had 
no buying public, with its profiteering, its conse- 
quent slump and great losses. 

"Another instance is the rubber industry. If 
there had been an accurate monthly statement of 
the current ratio of production capacity and opera- 
tion in the different branches of the industry, and 
of the stocks of major manufactured and raw ma- 
terials in hand, there would have been saved tre- 
mendous losses not only in over-accumulation of 
goods, but also in over-expansion of equipment. 

"Various industries have tried time and again 
to secure such data informally, but it is essential 
to success that it should be collected and presented 
to the whole commercial community, buyer, seller, 
and banker, by some department of the govern- 
ment which approaches the problem in a purely 
objective way, which will hold the individual's re- 
turn absolutely confidential; and from which the 
whole public and the industry can enjoy equality 
of service. Such services are partially conducted 
in many different bureaus of the Government, but 
to accomplish their real purpose and greatest 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 47 

value, they must be consolidated and conducted 
more efficiently and from a much broader point 
of view. I have little doubt that the present ex- 
penditures of the Government, if directed by con- 
solidated effort, would cover the entire service 
necessary." 

THREE ESSENTIALS TO ENDURING PROSPERITY 

As food, clothing, and shelter were once the 
three essentials of the primitive community, so 
fuel, transportation, and the direction of credit 
have now become the three essentials of the 
modern city and nation. The groups that control 
the fuel, transportation, and credit facilities of a 
city control the people. To these three there 
might also be added the news function, as the con- 
trol of the news is also a very important feature 
in modern life. Still New York could get on with- 
out any newspapers. But the people of New York 
would freeze or starve to death within a short 
time without fuel, transportation, and the credit 
necessary to get the commodities from their 
sources to New York City. These three forces 
must be absolutely free to act and react in accord- 



148 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

ance with natural law for the benefit of all groups 
and without showing partiality to capital or labor. 
As these three great factors of civilization are 
allowed to function naturally, we have prosperity; 
but when any one of them is gummed up (by capi- 
tal in the form of trusts or by the wage workers 
in the form of unions) then there is depression 
and unemployment. 

Let me say just a word about this direction of 
credit. Business men are not especially interested 
in the bank statistics that are published now from 
week to week. It is interesting to know the con- 
dition of loans and deposits, but as a rule they 
both go up and down together. Even the bank 
reserve itself must be kept within certain limits. 
The interesting figures would be those showing 
whether the banks are loaning their money for 
producing goods or for storing goods; whether 
the banks are loaning money to the farmer and 
the manufacturer or to the speculator and the 
merchant. The need for enduring prosperity is 
more long term investments in the form of better 
railroads, better highways, better homes, and more 
of all these things. Yet the bankers — owing to 
our laws supposing to protect the depositor — pre- 



DEVELOPING PROSPERITY WHICH ENDURES 1 49 

fer commercial paper which is put out in the in- 
terests of the speculator and middleman. They 
refuse long term paper which is issued in the in- 
terests of those who are truly developing the coun- 
try along permanent worth while lines. This is 
a great mistake. 

Let us not make the mistake that although con- 
ditions are fundamentally sound we can make 
prosperity endure by mere thinking that every- 
thing is all right. The optimistic sales manager 
who simply says, "Think business is good and it 
will be good," is as far wrong as the pessimistic 
purchasing agent who thinks that the country is 
going to the bow-wows. Although the difficulty 
to-day is spiritual or psychological, something 
more is needed than simply a change in our think- 
ing. There must be a change in our motives. The 
wage worker and the employer to-day, like that 
shrewd business man of Jerusalem to whom Jesus 
talked 2,000 years ago, need to be "born again." 
Both must change their point of view toward life 
and have new and better motives. Then we shall 
have more enduring prosperity. Moreover, the 
more enduring our prosperity, the more endur- 
ing will be our investments. 



CHAPTER XIII 

NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 

Before our investments can be enduring, our 
educational system in America must be entirely 
reformed. Moreover, this applies to investments 
in the broadest and most vital sense; that is, in- 
vestments in life and the things worth while. Such 
investments rest primarily not upon banking 
houses and security vaults, not upon courts and 
police officers, — not upon material wealth of any 
kind; but rather, such investments rest upon the 
motives of the people. When 5 1 per cent, of the 
people are actuated with the right motives, our 
civilization is improving and our investments are 
enduring; but when 51 per cent, of the people are 
actuated by false motives, then trouble is ahead. 

There are many difficulties with the present edu- 
cational system. The work of our schools and 
colleges is not made interesting. It is not close 

enough to life; it is not practical enough. It pre- 

150 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 151 

sents facts instead of principles; it treats our 
young people as phonographs to be filled up with 
data instead of as Divine creatures with wonderful 
and unexplainable powers of reasoning. 

THE GREATEST FAULT 

A hundred criticisms could be made of our edu- 
cational system; but the foremost is that it does 
not succeed in directing the purposes and motives 
of the students. Very few students graduate 
from a school or college with better motives and 
higher ideals than they entered; while many grad- 
uate with more selfish and frivolous ambitions. 
This is such a great criminal error that business 
men often wonder if the country would not be 
better off with many of our schools and colleges 
closed. 

Instead of developing producers, we are de- 
veloping consumers ; instead of training young peo- 
ple to serve, we are training them to be lazy; in- 
stead of training them regarding their responsi- 
bilities, we are training them regarding their so- 
called "rights." Unless people can be actuated 
by high motives, education is a source of danger. 



152 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

To give ammunition, in the form of education, to 
a person with wrong motives, is like putting a 
gun in the hand of one's enemy. 

THE CONVENTIONAL REASON FOR EDUCATION 

The ordinary inducement which is held out to 
young people for going to school and college is 
absolutely wrong. These young people are told 
that further education will help them to "get on" ; 
meaning, of course, to get on financially. In short, 
this means to get ahead of the other fellow. This 
is the selling talk which runs between the lines of 
almost all school and college catalogues. It is a 
vital error, and indicates that many schools and 
colleges have entirely lost sight of the original 
functions for which they were organized. Such 
talk shows that the trustees and teaching staff are 
not fit to operate an educational institution. Of 
course, such inducements are most wickedly over- 
drawn in connection with some advertising of cor- 
respondence schools and business colleges, but 
universities and other established educational in- 
stitutions are beginning to make the same error in 
connection with their race for funds and students. 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 53 

Even the "Endowment Drives," which some of 
our best colleges have recently been operating, are 
smirched with this commercial spirit. It is all 
right to talk about investments and investments in 
education, but in order for these investments to 
be enduring, education must devote its primary 
purpose to motives and its secondary purpose to 
facts. 

RELIGION AND EDUCATION 

The reason why our public school system utterly 
fails in its fundamental work of developing proper 
motives, is because of its elimination of religion. 
I refer not necessarily to the elimination of read- 
ing the Bible and opening the day with the Lord's 
Prayer, although devotional exercises for all pub- 
lic schools should be encouraged. Instead devo- 
tional exercises have been legislated out of exist- 
ence by many states. Due to the conflict which 
has raged in many cities and states between the 
Catholic and Protestant denominations this has 
resulted in tremendous harm to our school sys- 
tem. The greatest harm, however, has come from 
a disregard of the religious ideals in teachers. 

Could not we avoid conflict by recognizing that 



154 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

religious ideals should be fundamentally the same 
in the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish religions. 
Sectarian feeling has run so violently between the 
different sects that for fear some one of the three 
major groups would have a slight advantage, all 
religion has been ruled out of the public schools. 
Even the state of Massachusetts, which stands so 
high both in connection with its schools and 
churches, has the following law relative to the 
employment of school teachers. In simple Eng- 
lish this means that it is against the state laws of 
Massachusetts for a school superintendent or 
principal even to inquire of a teacher applying for 
a position whether she is Christian, Jewish, or 
Atheist. The law reads: 

"Religious or political belief not to be asked of 
applicants for positions. It shall be unlawful to 
inquire concerning, or to require or solicit from 
an applicant for a position any information as to 
the religious belief, creed or practice, or as to the 
political opinions or affiliations of the applicant; 
and no appointment to such a position shall be 
made, withheld or in any manner affected by the 
said considerations. Violation of the provisions 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 155 

of this act shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than $50 for each offense." (Gen, Acts, 1917, 
c. 84, p. 2.) 

We have been taught that our ancestors came 
to America in order to separate church and state. 
Technically, this may be true; but they never 
dreamed that the thing would develop along pres- 
ent lines. History shows that the real difficulty 
in England and Europe was that the state con- 
trolled the church. Our forefathers — however — 
did not wish to bring about a separation of church 
and state. Rather, they desired to have the church 
control the state. This means that the settlers of 
America desired to have more religion in their 
government rather than less. They desired to 
have a religious state rather than a state religion. 
All history shows this to be the real fact, although 
we have been led to believe something entirely 
different. 

Schools and colleges were not organized to help 
one fellow get the better of his neighbor, nor were 
they organized to help our young people get rich 
or take life easy. Our schools and colleges were 
organized primarily to train young people in the 



156 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

right motives. Religion was the principal work 
in the early days and the Bible was the principal 
text-book. In order for our investments to endure 
we must get back to these fundamental principles. 
Instead of further separating church and state or 
religion and education, we must weld them closer 
together. Only religion must control the state in- 
stead of having the state control the religion. 
Only religion can teach men their obligations to 
the community and develop within them those 
higher motives of which civilization is so much in 
need. As H. G. Wells says : 

"It is a modern error that education exists for 
the individual. Education exists for the commu- 
nity and the race. It exists to subdue the indi- 
vidual for the good of the world and his own ulti- 
mate happiness. " 

In order for our investments of every kind to 
endure — whether they are material, intellectual, 
or spiritual — our educational system must be re- 
formed by putting religion in the foreground. Re- 
ligion must be the basis of our educational system 
and the primary purpose must be to arouse within 
men and women a desire to serve and a desire for 
the things worth while. 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 57 

Ruskin said something like this : Tell me what 
a person likes and I will tell you what he is. This 
suggests a great fundamental truth and applies to 
nations, communities, families, and individuals. 
The actions of all groups and persons are deter- 
mined by their tastes and their tastes are deter- 
mined by their religion. Hence, the primary work 
of an educational system should be to develop in 
the student a taste for the things worth while. 

CIVICS AND EDUCATION 

The second requisite for educational systems, if 
our investments are to endure, is practical instruc- 
tion in civics and constitutional government. Cer- 
tain very commendable work is being done along 
these lines by groups interested in Americaniza- 
tion. In many instances to-day the child of the 
immigrant is better informed on American gov- 
ernment than is the child of the well-to-do. All, 
however, are lacking in instruction regarding 
government. 

Much has already been written as to whether 
our country was ever intended to be a democracy 
or a republic; that is, whether we were supposed 
to have direct government or government through 



158 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

representation. Writers claim that there are 
only three forms of government; a monarchy, a 
republic, and a democracy and that our fore- 
fathers intended that the United States should be 
a republic. Certainly if this is so the present talk 
about democracy with its referendums and the like 
is very far from our forefathers' original inten- 
tions. Probably not 5 per cent, of our school chil- 
dren of to-day could describe the difference be- 
tween these three forms of government, and yet 
this difference is absolutely fundamental. 

The teaching of civics does not mean a parrot- 
like memorization of the provisions of the Con- 
stitution. Rather, it means familiarity with both 
the spirit and text of our organic law with a cer- 
tain knowledge of history. Furthermore, this 
history should be taught along the lines of Wells' 
Outline of History rather than in the form of facts 
and dates. All subjects should be taught with the 
primary purpose of having the student form high 
motives. This can be done only by showing him 
the fatal results which come from indolence, ex- 
travagance, dishonesty, licentiousness, and indiffer- 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 59 

ence and to the good results which come from 
industry, thrift, integrity, purity, and uprightness. 
Every study gives an opportunity of emphasizing 
this fundamental fact, but probably no subjects 
give a better opportunity than do history and con- 
stitutional government. 

When no instruction was given in government, 
all men were equally ignorant and it was natural 
that all men should be given the vote irrespective 
of their knowledge. A continuation of this prin- 
ciple, however, means ultimate downfall for any 
government. Equal and universal suffrage is 
something to aim for, but as at present directed, 
it is not successful. The idea that every man and 
woman should be allowed to vote on government 
problems of which they know nothing is absolutely 
wrong. As we may never be able to take away 
the universal vote, the only alternative' is to edu- 
cate all along the lines of constitutional govern- 
ment and history in order that they may exercise 
the vote sanely. The time to help people along 
these lines is during the plastic time of youth. 
Primary schools can teach patriotism and our 



l6o ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

secondary schools can teach the understanding of 
and love for country which should be with religion 
a great motive power. 

ECONOMICS AND EDUCATION 

Economic study is the third essential to an edu- 
cational system which will insure enduring invest- 
ments. To-day when so many industrial problems 
are facing our country, it is of prime importance 
to the welfare of all that each citizen should have 
a sound elementary knowledge of economics. 
Economics is not a science like mathematics; but 
there are certain definite economic laws which 
have been manifested and verified by human ex- 
perience. These laws are now being taught to 
the very small percentage of people who graduate 
from colleges; but the larger percentage who 
enjoy only a grammar school or high school edu- 
cation go out into the world with no knowledge 
of economics. Statistics suggest that at least 95 
per cent, of our people have no information as 
to these fundamental economic laws, although 
their entire welfare is dependent thereon. In 
reality, the situation is worse than this because a 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM l6l 

large proportion of this 95 per cent, are being 
taught unsound economics by soap-box orators and 
irresponsible agitators. 

The wage worker is fundamentally well inten- 
tioned. He is actuated by the same human mo- 
tives as actuate employers. The man who has 
nothing is intrinsically as honest as the man who 
has much. The difficulty is that the agitator or 
the man who has nothing has been led astray. 
He has been filled with false ideas. He has been 
told that water can be made to run up hill by 
votes of Congress; that there is no relation be- 
tween supply and demand; and that the real reason 
for his poverty is because we are sending goods 
to foreign lands when they should be consumed 
here at home. He is taught that the charge of 
interest on borrowed money is a crime ; that gov- 
ernment insists simply on the protection of prop- 
erty and that the way to get increased wages is 
to restrict production. These, of course, are 
fundamental vital errors. Yet, can we blame the 
great mass of people for believing them when 
they have been taught nothing different? Hence, 
it is evident that the third essential of a 



1 62 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

worth while educational system is instruction in 
economics. 

ENGLISH AND EDUCATION 

The fourth essential to an educational system 
which will make our investments enduring is bet- 
ter instruction in English literature. At first 
thought it seems that English instruction should 
not deserve a place with these essentials of educa- 
tion. Statistics, however, will convince one that it 
does deserve a place in the basic system of educa- 
tion. It is not enough for people to be able to 
read and write. They should be taught to under- 
stand and love good literature. To-day 95 per 
cent, of the reading consists simply of newspaper 
reading and a large proportion of this is defiling 
and degenerating. Young people must be taught 
to seek the best reading and be ashamed of having 
a part in any other form. 

The many misunderstandings in connection with 
government, labor, and social problems are due 
to a misuse or a misinterpretation of the English 
language. These pitfalls must be avoided. All 
must be able to make themselves understood and 
to understand others. We can have no enduring 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 63 

investments until a clear understanding between 
all classes and groups exists. It has even been 
suggested that world peace will never come until 
there is a universal language. Certainly, the 
solidarity of every nation depends on mutual un- 
derstanding among its people. 

The enduring educational system, however, 
should go further. It is only a step from English 
to psychology. The reasons that Shakespeare, 
Ruskin, and Emerson were great writers is be- 
cause they were great psychologists and philoso- 
phers. Literature of itself is a mere shell. Psy- 
chology of itself is a dangerous weapon. The 
two, however, can be combined in a way to be- 
come a great force. Literature should not be 
taught for its own sake; but it should be taught 
for its psychological instruction. Yes — only 
through such teaching can practical psychology 
and philosophy be satisfactorily given to young 
people. 

PRINCIPLES AND EDUCATION 

The fifth essential for an enduring educational 
system is that our young people should be taught 
the principles, not the facts. Probably the great- 



1 64 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

est advancement during our lifetime will be made 
along this fifth development. Almost every text- 
book used in our schools and colleges could be 
boiled down to one-tenth its present size. At the 
bottom of practically every subject are a few 
fundamental principles. The educational system 
of the future will teach the students only these 
fundamental principles, using problems simply to 
illustrate these principles and to interest the stu- 
dent therein. After learning these fundamental 
principles, the student as he goes out into life, can 
apply them when, as, and if needed. 

Without doubt we are wasting a great deal of 
time on our educational system. Schools are being 
operated largely not to provide education, but to 
take the children off their parents' hands for a 
certain number of hours a day. This applies to 
all schools, although especially to kindergarten, 
primary, and preparatory schools. Colleges and 
high schools are largely being operated to give 
jobs to instructors rather than to help the students. 
Thus the incentive is to string out the course as 
long as possible and use as many text-books as 
possible. Naturally, the text-book manufacturers 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 65 

are very sympathetic with this mistaken policy and 
help it along in every way possible. 

Mathematics, geography, the sciences, lan- 
guages, and the other basic studies are impor- 
tant; but they should be taught by different meth- 
ods from those used at present. These studies 
should be greatly condensed and reduced to funda- 
mental principles. These principles should be 
learned as the alphabet and multiplication table 
are learned. The great mass of rubbish now in- 
cluded should be eliminated. Moreover, if this 
were done, much time would be saved, and — what 
is more important — the students would be better 
educated. 

For instance, chemistry, physics, geology, biol- 
ogy, etc., should all be combined into one course 
known as "Science," which every one should be 
taught. Such a combined course could be covered 
in less time than is now given to one science. The 
idea of making a student choose between chem- 
istry and physics when he knows nothing of either 
is ridiculous. Let those whose business requires 
one of these sciences specialize in it after taking 
the fundamental combined course; but don't make 



1 66 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

him select a science before he knows anything 
about it. Neither should he be allowed to take 
one science to the utter exclusion of others equally 
important. 

The same error is committed regarding lan- 
guages. What good does the smattering of 
French, German, Spanish, Italian, etc., now being 
taught in our schools accomplish? Less than 5 
per cent, of those who study those languages ever 
make use of them. The whole system is ridicu- 
lous. Let all students in English speaking coun- 
tries be taught English; the students in French 
speaking countries be taught French ; and the stu- 
dents in other countries be taught their own lan- 
guage. Then have the students of all those 
countries taught Esperanto, which is simply made 
up of the fundamental principles underlying all 
languages. Under such a system we would get 
somewhere. 

After one learns the language of his country 
and Esperanto, he should have the privilege of 
learning Spanish, French, German, etc. ; but these 
other foreign languages should not be compulsory 
in our public schools and should be purely electives 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 67 

in college. To-day they are required for gradua- 
tion from high schools and for admission to col- 
lege; while no examinations are given on certain 
fundamentals such as ethics, civics, and personal 
efficiency. 

The Creator probably intended that we parents 
should go to school and then we ourselves should 
teach our children. Of course, this idea has been 
entirely upset. Schools and colleges have doubt- 
less become a permanent fixture to our civilization 
and we fathers will continue to use them to take 
care of our children the same as we use laborers 
to take care of our gardens and maids to take care 
of our houses. We should, however, condense 
this outside education into as short a period as 
possible, make it as practical as possible, and teach 
only a few fundamental principles underlying each 
subject. This would be an infinitely more efficient, 
practical, and appealing method. 

PART-TIME SYSTEMS 

Educators say that it is necessary to string out 
a young person's education over a large number 
of years. They insist that to teach the funda- 



1 68 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

mental principles above suggested would be like 
feeding a person protein, vitamines, and the other 
food essentials in pills instead of in the grains 
and vegetables as nature provides. They claim 
that the student needs "bulk" in order to digest 
his mental food as he needs it to digest properly 
his physical food. Furthermore, statistics indi- 
cate that the educator is right. 

This educational bulk, however, should not be 
loafing, good times, dissipation, etc. Rather this 
"bulk" should be work in the fields, homes, fac- 
tories, or stores. Referring to the educators' own 
illustration of the use of physical food, permit 
the writer to say that we do not feed a child from 
five years to eighteen years upon vegetables exclu- 
sively and then take away the vegetables and feed 
him on meats exclusively for the rest of his life ! 
No, we mix the two from early childhood. In the 
same way we should continually mix study and 
work. Yet to-day we give our children thirteen 
years of all study and no work; and then pull 
away the study and give them all work for the 
remainder of their lives. 

This means that an educational system in order 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 69 

to produce an enduring prosperity must be based 
upon part-time education. No student should be 
allowed to enter or remain in high school unless 
he or she is regularly employed in some useful 
work. Already interesting experiments are being 
made along these lines in connection with college 
work. These experiments should at once be ap- 
plied to the high schools, which today are train- 
ing young people to be parasites instead of work- 
ers, owing to the use of play, instead of industry, 
for the so-called bulk. 

Some will say that there are not jobs enough to 
give employment for even part-time to so many 
young people. This is a fundamental economic 
error. As more people work, more people are 
able to buy and this in turn creates more work. 
With a proper part-time secondary educational 
system designed to teach young people after they 
go to work or get married instead of before, we 
would solve many of our social and industrial 
problems. For this reason the writer very much 
favors the work of correspondence schools, ex- 
tension courses and other forms of education by 
mail. His only criticism is the way such courses 



170 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

are often advertised and the motives often ap- 
pealed to in connection with their sale. 

COOPERATION AND EDUCATION 

Efficient education must be all-inclusive. All 
groups must be taught the same subjects and the 
same fundamental principles. The public school 
in the small city or town is a worth-while example 
along lines of cooperation. The son of the mill 
owner and the son of his humblest employee sit 
side by side in the same school room and derive 
their education from the same teacher. This is 
fundamentally correct. The mill owner makes a 
mistake from every point of view when he takes 
his son out of that school room and puts him in a 
private school in the town or, what is worse, sends 
him away to some other city. 

Some one has said that the efficiency of a peo- 
ple is determined by its ability to cooperate. Cer- 
tainly, the future of America depends on all 
groups pulling together rather than pulling apart. 
Mutual understanding between employers and 
wage workers can never be developed by operat- 
ing separate schools for different classes of people. 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 171 

Even the development in certain cities to have 
"Classical" high schools, "English" high schools 
and "Technical" high schools is a fundamental 
mistake. Our investments will not be made to 
endure by erecting such artificial classifications. 
An enduring educational system must provide the 
same fundamental principles for all groups 
whether executives or wage workers. Two and 
two make four and should be taught as making 
four to rich and poor, black and white. More- 
over, these groups must learn to understand one 
another and this can only be learned through asso- 
ciation. 

The writer cannot too strongly emphasize the 
importance of teaching different groups to co- 
operate one with another. Some advancement is 
being made along these lines to-day. Certain of 
the older conservative institutions of learning are 
opening their doors with special courses for those 
who cannot spend the required time. Yet, with 
these institutions, the groups are kept separate. 
The children taking classical work are in one 
building, while the children taking business studies 
are in another building. One group is allowed to 



172 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

look down on or look up to the other. This is 
all wrong. It is contrary to the fundamental 
principles of religion, good government, eco- 
nomics, and the other essentials in an enduring 
educational system. 

THE WRITER'S DREAM 

In showing this manuscript to a friend, the 
writer was asked to prepare a prospectus of what 
he would consider an educational institution which 
would make our worth-while investments endure. 
As a closing portion of this chapter he submits the 
following : 

The Institution should have three Divisions : 
Division One would be known as the General 
Division. It would give by mail in elemen- 
tary form, to a majority of the employees of every 
industry, the same principles as are taught the 
executives and the sons of the stockholders. Even 
when the owner of the plant and his executives 
have the correct point of view, they cannot them- 
selves be effective unless a majority of the em- 
ployees look at things sanely also. Hence, an 
enduring educational system requires that the wage 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 73 

workers of the country be given weekly elemen- 
tary lessons, based on the same fundamental prin- 
ciples as are being studied by capital and manage- 
ment at college. 

Division Two would be for the executives and 
soon-to-be executives of a corporation or firm who 
wish additional training in the fundamentals of 
Economics, Psychology, English, Finance, Science, 
etc., but are unable to come to a Resident School 
for personal work. These Advanced Courses how- 
ever, have another fundamental purpose, namely: 
In order that the young man who is to come into 
control of the business may become efficient after 
his graduation from college, it is very important 
that the executives with whom he is to work shall 
have the same vision and be actuated by the same 
fundamental principles. Only in this way can the 
plant be operated harmoniously and efficiently. 
Executives could take this Advanced Division 
work by correspondence while the owner's son or 
successor is taking Resident School work. 

Division Three would be known as the Resident 
School, and should comprise intensive one- to two- 
years' courses. This Division should be designed 



174 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

for men who are likely to come into responsibility 
or property and give them practical work in 
finance, production, distribution, and personal 
efficiency. Men entering this Resident Division 
should have either one or more years of college or 
its equivalent in actual work. No formal exami- 
nations should be required, but men should be 
sufficiently mature and seriously interested to have 
this privilege. 

THREE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES 

This educational institution should not attempt 
to give the same detailed information courses as 
are given in colleges. The ambitious man can 
be depended upon to have been to college or to 
have secured its equivalent otherwise, while the 
man without ambition is hopeless, whether he goes 
to college or not. The purpose of this educa- 
tional system should be to emphasize and impress 
upon the students the few fundamental principles 
involved in production, distribution, finance, and 
personal efficiency. Men who are inoculated with 
these principles will by themselves in later years 
gather what further information is required; but 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 75 

men without these few principles will never perma- 
nently succeed. 

The second thing which such an educational in- 
stitution should attempt is to have men actuated 
by proper motives. There is no use in giving men 
information if they use this information to destroy 
instead of construct. In addition to having 
knowledge, men, to be of use, must be controlled 
by right motives, and this applies alike to all three 
groups, — stockholders, executives, and wage 
workers. Hence, the importance of a religious 
background. Such a background is possible only 
when the teachers are filled with the spirit of 
Jesus. 

But to be real factors in the business world, 
men must have something besides information and 
right motives. They must have the spirit of co- 
operation. They must be neither wealthy snobs 
nor labor snobs. All three groups must under- 
stand and respect the others. Hence, all gradu- 
ates of such an educational institution should re- 
ceive diplomas. Although these diplomas would 
be marked, "Fundamental Course," "Advanced 
Course" or "Residence Course," nevertheless all 



176 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

who successfully complete the work given to them 
should be recognized as alumni of the school 
with equal privileges. Only in this way can 
there be developed a true comradeship among 
the young men who are to come into control of 
the businesses, the executives with whom they are 
to work, and the wage workers who are to be in 
their employ. 

It therefore will be seen that more than an 
educational institution is needed. A great educa- 
tional brotherhood is required to make our in- 
vestments endure. The greatest problems facing 
America to-day are problems of production, dis- 
tribution and personal growth. These can never 
be solved by building up walls between the differ- 
ent classes and depending on manufacturers' as- 
sociations, labor unions, bankers' clubs, and the 
like. The solution will come only as all groups 
are bound together in a practical way by common 
ties. My dream is that the higher educational in- 
stitution of the future will be one of these ties. 

COSTS AND TEACHERS 

Of course, all of this means that we must pay 
more for the education of our children. Teachers 



NEED OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1 77 

are already paid too little ; classes are already too 
large and these two facts explain much of the 
present inefficiency. Each teacher should have 
several assistants so as to give individual help 
and guidance; moving pictures should be used 
fully as much as text-books; while high school 
students should dictate to dictating machines and 
have their work edited by secretaries trained in 
English. Only in this way can English be properly 
taught. 

There is nothing new in these suggestions. 
These and many others have been desired for 
years by leading educators. The whole truth is 
that they lack the funds. It costs money to 
create a good system of education the same as it 
costs money to make good roads and erect good 
Buildings. Yet we spent on war in one year what 
it would cost to operate a 100 per cent, educa- 
tional system for a period of twenty years. How 
foolish we all are! Is it not a wonder that our 
investments endure as well as they do ? 



CHAPTER XIV 

A PERSONAL CONFESSION 

One Saturday night I returned from what most 
people would have called a very successful two 
months' trip. I had been given luncheons by the 
leading Chambers of Commerce of the country 
and had spoken to numerous very large audiences 
where thousands had been turned away. All of 
these talks had caused very favorable comment 
in the newspapers of the cities visited. While 
away I had been elected to positions of power and 
influence by some of America's large corporations. 
Moreover, on my desk — upon my return — was a 
report showing that my business had just com- 
pleted its most prosperous year, earning profits 
many times greater than anything I had ever 
expected. 

Notwithstanding these things which are com- 
monly called "success," I was tired and half sick. 

The next day on my way from church, I stopped 

178 



A PERSONAL CONFESSION 1 79 

in at the local drug store to tell the proprietor, 
"Torn West," as he is commonly called, my 
troubles. I asked for some aspirin or something 
of the kind which he slowly tied up and gave to 
me. As I turned to go out, he called out : 

"Roger, you think you are prosperous; but I 
say you are a damn fool." 

For some days this thought clung to me until 
it seemed as if friend Tom was right. Prosperity 
consists not in fame, power, or money, but rather 
in health, happiness, love, and peace. Jesus said, 
"First seek the Kingdom of Heaven and all these 
other things will be added unto you." Let us 
make sure that we get all the things to which 
Jesus referred. Let us not think that prosperity 
consists in having only houses, automobiles, stocks, 
and bonds. Let us remember that when Jesus 
said "all things" he had more in mind those 
spiritual things for which so many men give their 
lives. 

FORCED TO THINK 

"Tom West" certainly made me think about 
many things. Among them were these : 



180 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

Once I had plenty of time to give to my only 
child. When I became "prosperous" she, of 
course, went away to a boarding school. I had 
no time to give her. Henceforth, her life was not 
shaped by her father, but rather by unknown 
and young boarding school friends. 

Once I had a small number of employees and 
knew them all by their first names and knew their 
fathers and their mothers, having visited in their 
homes; but when I became "prosperous" an em- 
ployment manager was engaged and this personal 
touch which had been so helpful was lost. 

When I first started in business there was plenty 
of time to go to Gloucester and see my father 
and mother who enjoyed having me with them; 
but when I became "prosperous" I had no time 
for this and could only steal down over a hurried 
meal once every two or three months. 

It is said that prosperity means health, free- 
dom, and happiness. I had not the health of my 
hired men on the farm who were working in the 
garden summers and were cutting wood winters. 
Every one in my employ had more freedom than I 
had. It was possible for them to go anywhere 



A PERSONAL CONFESSION l8l 

and do anything they liked without having it 
noticed or reported. As for happiness, I envied 
the squirrels running about my place. Yes, if 
prosperity is health, freedom, and happiness, cer- 
tainly these squirrels were more prosperous. 

The facts showed that Tom West was right. I 
was a "damn fool." Before another week had 
gone by, I had turned over a new leaf. I was 
still determined to be prosperous, but had made 
up my mind that prosperity consists in having a 
little of all things, a comfortable home, a reason- 
able income, a lot of fresh air, honest out-door 
work, some good friends, and the joy which 
comes from quietly and unostentatiously giving 
some one else a lift. 

Of course it is untrue to say life is made up 
simply of the spiritual things. The person who 
has not a fair proportion of the material things 
is not prosperous ; but statistics do show that the 
spiritual things — love, joy, peace, health, friends, 
and beauty — are more important. This means 
that you cannot judge a man's prosperity by his 
position or his wealth. You can judge him only 
by God's ratings, not by Dun's or Bradstreet's. 



1 8 2 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

A TRUE PERSPECTIVE 

Since Tom West opened my eyes, I have been 
getting a better perspective. It seems almost as 
if real prosperity is seeing life in its true perspec- 
tive. I wonder if many readers of this book are 
not also "damn fools ?" We read a good deal 
about religion and business. At one time we hear 
of religion as the hand maid of business ; another 
time business would appear to be almost neces- 
sary to religion. Do not we think too much about 
both religion and business and too little about life 
for which both religion and business exist? 

Production has been a favorite theme with me. 
For greater production I have appealed and am 
still appealing to-day. Yet production is only a 
means to an end and should not be made an end 
itself. Production is of use only as it sustains 
life and gives greater life. Whenever production 
begins to contract life and causes us to lose those 
spiritual qualities which make life really worth 
while, then production ceases to function, and with 
it all of this vast commerce, industry, and invest- 
ing ceases likewise to function. 

Richard Roberts has said that production is to 



A PERSONAL CONFESSION 1 83 

life what the kitchen is to the rest of the home. 
It is essential and indispensable, but yet a home 
with only a kitchen would be no home at all. 
Owing to the incomplete definition that is being 
given to the words "prosperity," "production," 
and "investments," are not we all crowding to- 
gether in the kitchen of the house of life? It 
certainly seems so. It appears that one is neglect- 
ing the library, the living room, and those 
spacious, airy verandas upon which we should be 
basking in the sunshine of truth, love and peace. 

For this reason we must not test our invest- 
ments by their productivity of mere things. 
Things are important and essential, but they are 
only a small part of prosperity. Unless our in- 
vestments produce these final, spiritual qualities 
as well as the material, both for ourselves and 
others, our investments have failed in their pur- 
pose and certainly will not endure. 

Men should live to produce, but not merely to 
produce mere material things. The great thing 
that we are called upon to produce is a real and 
full life. This full life is made up of friendship, 
wandering through the woods, enjoying music, art, 



1 84 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

and the beauties of nature. This is what was in 
mind, when in a previous chapter, reference was 
made to the soul's craving for self-expression so 
inherent in human nature. 

A RAILROAD LESSON 

Once I spent Sunday at the home of a famous 
railroad president. It was a wonderful great stone 
mansion in which he and his wife lived "alone" 
in a wealth of servants. There was a servant for 
this and a servant for that. Privacy was impossi- 
ble and life was one continual procession of ap- 
pointments, directors' meetings, social functions, 
and the like. 

At the Sunday dinner that day, while two 
butlers were waiting on the table, a third stood 
with a great pile of vouchers at the back of the 
railroad president's chair. The meal consisted of 
many courses and the duties of this special butler 
consisted simply of putting in front of this rail- 
road president between courses a bunch of 
vouchers which he would sign. 

After dinner we went into the library and sat 
before the great fireplace. I asked him to tell 



A PERSONAL CONFESSION 1 85 

me something about his early life. Briefly, it was 
this: 

He had graduated when a young man from an 
eastern technical school as a civil engineer. He 
was married immediately after graduation and 
he and his wife went in a construction train from 
New York westward to the Missouri River. This 
was as far as any rails had then been laid. After 
crossing the river, a camp fire was made and their 
home life started. From that point on he and 
his wife traveled and lived in a prairie schooner 
for more than three years, — until the rails hit the 
foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Their first 
child was born in the prairie schooner. 

As these days came back to the memory of the 
man, his voice began to break and then tears came 
to the eyes of his tired wife. 

"What's the matter, dearest?" he said. 
"What's the matter? You enjoyed those days, 
didn't you?" 

"Yes," she replied, "I certainly did and I wish 
we were back there now. Those were the days 
when we enjoyed real prosperity." 



1 86 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

THE DIFFICULTY 

Take care — quote me correctly. Statistics do 
not teach that true success consists simply in re- 
turning back to nature and in leading the simple 
life. The hands of the clock can never be set 
back. We must adapt ourselves to existing con- 
ditions and not pleasant theories. True pros- 
perity depends upon a three-fold development. 
He who fails in any one is handicapped. Endur- 
ing investments call for health, happiness, and 
financial independence, — that is, one should have 
enough income to be able to live as he should. 

But of these three things, — health, happiness, 
and independence, the last — which so many of us 
make the most important — is the least important 
of all. The investment of money in mere stocks, 
bonds, mortgages, and other things is not a truly 
enduring investment. The real enduring invest- 
ments are in happiness, peace, and love, — and the 
greatest of these is love. 

But why is it that we are so strenuously seek- 
ing the temporary investments and give so little 
time and thought to the real enduring invest- 
ments? We know that shrouds have no pockets, 



A PERSONAL CONFESSION 1 87 

— that some day we must give up every cent we 
have and that to-morrow may be the day. Why 
is it that with this knowledge we continually seek 
to accumulate more of material things when en- 
during investments can be secured only as we give 
up more of such things? It is by distributing 
more, instead of by accumulating more, first of 
ourselves and secondly of property, that we make 
investments which live forever. 

THE REMEDY 

As stated in the preceding chapter, one reason 
why we all have the wrong point of view may 
be that money and things are so wrongly em- 
phasized in the public schools and colleges. The 
world is going mad on hiring things done. Every 
one wants to hire and buy rather than save or 
create. This especially applies to the education 
of our children and the care of our families. Just 
as soon as our children begin to know us, we ship 
them to kindergarten, and then to public schools, 
and then away to a preparatory school and college. 

Fathers and mothers were supposed to be the 
teachers of their children. The home was sup- 



1 88 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

posed to be the school house. Children begin 
school altogether too young. Family prayers are 
infinitely more important than French or Geom- 
etry. The woodbox is of greater educational 
value than Chemistry or Algebra. The subjects 
taught in our public schools are probably benefi- 
cial; but they do not compare in importance with 
those religious fundamental qualities which our 
young people so lack to-day. It is not more schools 
that we need to-day; but it is more religion in the 
schools which we already have and in the homes 
which form the background of our entire educa- 
tional system. 

We fathers should give our families more time 
rather than more money. Our children now need 
more counsel and comradeship rather than more 
stocks and bonds. We are putting all the ship's 
ballast on one side and if we are not careful the 
ship will soon capsize. The solution of our in- 
vestment troubles — as well as of our labor 
troubles — will come only as we give more of our- 
selves to our children and our employees. Both 
children and wage workers need money; but 
money alone will neither satisfy nor save either. 



A PERSONAL CONFESSION 1 89 

AN APPEAL 

The educational system for men is rapidly 
being reformed. Experiments which the Babson 
Institute is making at Wellesley Hills bear great 
promise. Men are being taught by doing, classes 
are being turned into conferences, and through 
correspondence courses, both teacher and student 
make rapid progress. Yet there is a great oppor- 
tunity for improvement. Fathers must learn to 
spend very much more money on their sons' edu- 
cation if they are to insist that some one else shall 
give it. 

The present educational system for girls is 
improving, although the modern tendency of train- 
ing girls merely for industry and office is criminal. 
No wonder there is each year one divorce to every 
ten marriages; — and this has increased 20 per 
cent, since we have been keeping the figures. 

Yes, the real reason why most of us are so 
unable to make enduring investments when the 
opportunity arises, is because we were never 
trained to do it. The truth is that many are being 
trained in making the opposite kind. Let us not 
continue longer to make such a mistake. Let us 



190 ENDURING INVESTMENTS 

not give greater emphasis to the unessentials than 
to the essentials. Let us not become hypnotized 
with the false idea of possession, remembering 
that production and not possession, that life and 
not money, should be the aim of our efforts. 
Finally, let us seek to produce with our time, in- 
fluence, and money those qualities and other things 
which will make the world truly healthier, hap- 
pier, and more prosperous. Then and then only 
shall we make the most enduring investments for 
ourselves, our families, and our communities. 



6 i 5 «*m 



